Step 5: Implement Watershed Plan (cont.)

Conduct Monitoring
Ideally, you will have monitoring results from previous years (e.g., if possible it is good to collect pre and post implementation monitoring data to demonstrate project effectiveness). Even if you do not, it is important to begin monitoring promptly. You must begin building your datasets to ensure that future evaluations are as accurate as possible. You will use the monitoring data you gather to compare against the criteria you developed. This data will also help you to determine if you are meeting each of your milestones. While your planning team might not be able to conduct all of your monitoring activities, other resources such as universities, other local watershed groups and volunteer networks can help to fill in data gaps. There are many resources to support your monitoring needs.