Lindsay Creek Community & Watershed-Based Land Use Assessment

People have recently begun to seek better ways for communities to grow in rural regions where they live: better ways to maintain a rural sense of community, working lands, open spaces, wildlife, clean water and opportunities for the future. NRS staff and a team of consultants addressed these issues in ‘The Lindsay Creek Project: Watershed- & Community Based Land Use Assessment'. As a result, three documents were created that provide a guide to the process for addressing these issues, the results of that process, and a cost-benefit assessment of the project.

Start With The Watershed: A Pilot Handbook for Watershed & Community-Based Land Use Planning introduces a process for collecting and combining available watershed and social data with the goal of improving land use decisionmaking in rural regions.

The methods  presented in this Handbook are a practical approach to integrating watershed, social and land use information . Rather than focus on how to conduct a watershed assessment, a public participation campaign or land use analysis, all of which are relatively standard procedures in themselves, the Handbook addresses adaptation and integration of these efforts. The result is information that will serve the community, local governments and state and federal governments in their efforts to more proactively address conservation of rural landscapes.

Of course any planning process would benefit from the inclusion of both watershed and social data. Land use planners are commonly faced with a challenging mix of resource management, residential, habitat and aesthetic values, and issues. The focus of this effort on rural landscapes is motivated by the observation that most people would like to think that the natural attributes in and around their rural community will remain relatively constant – even when examples around them are to the contrary. In addition, rural regions contain the most ‘intact' native landscapes and, therefore, have the most to lose from growth that does not maintain the health of natural systems.

Watershed-based planning is not a new concept in the Western U.S. Using watershed boundaries for resource management purposes is the norm for many state and federal government agencies, particularly those related to water quality and fisheries. “We need to find ways to integrate human systems and natural systems to ensure that both can function sustainably” (Sierra Business Council 1997). And, when community members are engaged and empowered to determine the future of land use in their area, their commitment to seeing plans implemented is high (Local Government Commission 1997) and their desire to be good stewards is enhanced.

The Handbook will be useful to those interested in the integration of watershed and social data into the land use planning process , particularly local government staff and elected officials as well as:

 – Resource management agencies;

– Watershed groups and other natural resource-related organizations;

– Developers and planning professionals;

– Planning Commission appointees and members of other planning-related bodies;

– Community members interested in planning and watershed issues; and

– State land use planners and policymakers.

 The process outlined in this Handbook has been designed to supplement traditional land use planning efforts . Watershed- and community-based land use planning would therefore be most effective when implemented by a local government as part of a General, Comprehensive or Community Plan Update process in collaboration with community- and watershed-based groups and organizations.

The Strategy for the Lindsay Creek Watershed & Community is the result of applying a process that integrates watershed assessment, public participation, and land use planning concepts in an effort to provide tools to maintain rural community quality of life while conserving the water, the land, and the resources we rely upon (as outlined in the Handbook ). This demonstration process was carried out in the Lindsay Creek watershed, a tributary of the Mad River watershed in northwestern California between the Cities of Arcata and Blue Lake and the town of McKinleyville .

The Strategy includes characteristics of a community plan, a watershed plan, and a community ‘visioning' document. As a hybrid, the Strategy is different things to different people and is intended to provide:

• The Lindsay Creek watershed and Fieldbrook community with a new source of information about what residents consider important and about the state of the watershed. It will also provide a set of recommendations to proactively address development and related resource issues, potentially diminishing the likelihood of additional regulations being imposed;
• The Humboldt County Department of Community Development Services with resources and recommendations for the next update to the Fieldbrook/Glendale Area Community Plan, and tools for their continued efforts to integrate watershed data into the General Plan Update process;
• The members of the Lindsay Creek Watershed Group with watershed assessment data and results and recommendations for priority water quality and salmon habitat enhancement opportunities and actions; and
• The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB), with a test of watershed-based land use assessment techniques for rural communities.

The Lindsay Creek Project pilot watershed- and community-based land use planning effort was reviewed by economist Daniel Ihara, Ph. D., of the Center for Environmental Economic Development in Arcata, California. The Benefits and Costs of the Lindsay Creek Project Watershed- and Community-Based Land Use Assessment: An Evaluation (Ihara 2005) is a report on the costs and benefits of the Lindsay Creek Project, and recommends implementation and analysis of watershed-based land use planning efforts.