Stage 3: Implementing and Evaluating (continued)

Measure & Report Progress
Your watershed partnership needs to consider how to evaluate the effectiveness of activities that are part of the plan, and how well they represent progress toward the objectives. Unfortunately, many opportunities to learn from successes or failures are missed when groups do not evaluate their projects' success. Specific commitments to track effectiveness should be included in the Action Plan.

Monitoring to track project effectiveness can range from the use of expensive and highly accurate scientific instruments to very low-cost measurements that are simple and inexpensive. Sound scientific monitoring techniques are appropriate for tracking larger and more complex activities. Low-cost, low-tech approaches may provide less accurate information, but are very useful for getting people involved and interested in the watershed's condition. For instance, turbid water can be measured with a simple Secchi disc, and pH can be measured with a pH strip or an inexpensive pH meter. Popular wildlife such as birds can be tracked by conducting an annual count or breeding bird survey. Depending on the objectives of the plan, more sophisticated data collection and measurement techniques may be utilized, such as laboratory analyses for metals, pesticides, or toxic compounds. Additional guidance on indicators and monitoring is presented in the Overview of Watershed Monitoring Module.

The methods used for measuring progress should be carefully considered by the watershed partnership with their advisors' technical guidance. Partners may also want to ask for technical assistance from local conservation groups, science teachers, extension specialists, or other local or state technical staff. You may also wish to enlist a youth group, lake association, conservation group or other group as volunteer monitors. It's very important to report progress back to both the partnership and to the community. When everyone sees progress, they will continue to work toward making the plan a success.