Headlines
Connecting the Dots Concludes OWOW Project Weighting
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
At their June 3, 2010 meeting, the Steering Committee members completed an exercise which weighted the importance of 11 criteria as recommended by the OWOW Pillar Leaders. The Pillar Leaders recommended the following 11 project criteria: project readiness, cost match, cost effectiveness, water supply benefits, water quality/salt management benefits, restoration/flood management benefits, watershed-focused recreation benefits, active partnerships, environmental justice and tribe benefits, climate change, and natural hydrology/land use.
The result of the “dot-voting” exercise is to provide the weight for each criterion, reflecting the relative importance that each has in relation to the rest. All criteria are relevant and important, but the dot-voting was used to establish a priority in the form of weights. These weights will be used in the project ranking after projects are scored under each criterion based on data supplied on project information forms as part of the IRWM process. The project information forms are due by June 30th.
The results of the dot ranking exercise are as follows:
| Criteria | Total Dots Assigned |
Weights |
Project Readiness |
19 |
10% |
Cost Match |
14 |
7% |
Cost Effectiveness |
24 |
12% |
Water Supply Benefits |
44 |
22% |
Water Quality/Salt Management Benefits |
24 |
12% |
Restoration/Flood Management Benefits |
21 |
11% |
Watershed-Focused Recreation Benefits |
9 |
5% |
Active Partnerships |
17 |
9% |
Environmental Justice and Tribe Benefits |
8 |
4% |
Climate Change |
4 |
2% |
Natural Hydrology/Land Use |
16 |
8% |
The weighting results fell into three major groups: Water supply benefits was weighted the highest at 22%; followed by a group of criteria which included water quality/salt management (12%), cost effectiveness (12%), restoration/flood management benefits (11%), project readiness (10%), active partnerships (9%), natural hydrology/land use (8%), and cost match (7%). A third group of criteria included watershed-focused recreation benefits (5%), environmental justice (EJ) and tribe benefits (4%), and climate change (2%).
The Steering Committee members developed goals and objectives for the One Water One Watershed (OWOW) Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plan in 2008. From those goals and objectives, the OWOW Pillars developed strategies and targets from which 11 criteria have been developed for project ranking. These criteria align with Proposition 84 guidelines and standards and will be used to prioritize projects for grant application as part of the IRWM process.