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The Beaver Watershed Alliance (“BWA”) announced that a draft 2023 revision of the Beaver Lake Watershed Protection Strategy (“Strategy”) has been issued.

The Strategy was prepared by RTI International.

BWA describes the Strategy as a:

9-Element U.S. EPA watershed-based management plan which details a community’s water quality concerns and a strategy to address those concerns.

The organization further notes that the:

. . . nine minimum elements are intended to ensure that the contributing causes and sources of nonpoint source pollution are identified, that key stakeholders are involved in the planning process, and that restoration and protection strategies are identified, that will address the water quality concerns.

The Strategy is stated to include adaptive management to address changes in a watershed area which is a rationale for BWA to initiate an update of the Strategy.

Key changes identified by BWA in the Strategy include:

• An additional section on progress since the adoption of the 2012 Lake Protection Strategy (Section 1.3)
• A summary of the development of the 2023 revision (Section 1.4)
• Updated maps, land use, and climate information (Section 2)
• Updated watershed modeling under baseline and future land use and climate scenarios (Section 2.2)
• Updated model inputs related to managed sources (Section 2.2)
• Discussion of river instability and streambank erosion (Section 2.2)
• Updated water quality data and inclusion of new graphics (Section 2.3)
• Reorganization of the components of the Protection Strategy (Section 4)
• Information on the Beaver Watershed Alliance (Section 4.1)
• Updated conservation practices and priority areas included (Section 4.2.2)
• Updated education and outreach initiatives in the region (Section 4.2.3)
• Summary of Beaver Lake Watershed Success Metrics (Section 4.2.4)
• New Section on Management Measures, Costs, and Load Reduction Estimates (Section 4.3)
• Updated prioritization based on land management priorities and streambank priorities (Section 5.1)
• Updated Appendices including a case study on the economic benefits of pasture restoration (Appendix A)

A copy of the BWA newsletter describing the Strategy and providing a link to the Strategy can be found here. Further, BWA will accept comments on this draft through March 1st.