In September of 2006, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and the state-wide nonprofit Minnesota Waters began a unique partnership to carry out MCWD’s Watershed Association Initiative (WAI).

MCWD is activating groups of citizens who have come together with the common value of protecting their local water resources. This goal of protecting and preserving local water resources can begin to be achieved through citizen-led groups working with the District. The scientific expertise, organizational capacity development resources, and citizen-led conservation experience that both the MCWD and Minnesota Waters provide are important for a strong start and a sustainable future for lake, stream, and watershed associations.

View Workshops & Events

Next WAI Workshop:
Newsletter Writing Workshop

River, lake or watershed groups often form around a particular concern for water or shoreline protection. The initial discussion concerning the need for a group generally requires a few meetings and a couple principal leaders, spurring interest and sustaining follow-through.

And once a group is formed, there is no equivalent for the extraordinary watershed stewardship and protection which ensues. Regardless of scope or specific focus, river groups, lake associations and other local water conservation organizations are the backbone of water resource protection throughout Minnesota. And in today's climate of budget limitations and increasing shoreline development, locally-led groups who know and use the resource are perfectly poised to address these challenges, leading the charge for lake and river protection into the next generation.

The Watershed Association Initiative (WAI) has been created to help groups through the formative stages. Please contact
Alex Gehrig at 218-251-1462 or alexg@mnwaters.org
to discuss the formation of your group.

The Watershed Association Initiative (WAI) was created in September of 2006 by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District through a unique partnership with Minnesota Waters.

View the Watershed Association Initiative Fact Sheet!

Goals within the WAI within the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District:

• Empower citizens to help meet local water quality goals by strengthening stewardship practices
• Educate property owners on ways to form healthy, effective, and sustainable citizen-led, water focused organizations
• Provide workshops to newly forming and established water protection groups to help them create Action Plans to meet fund-raising, organizational, and communications goals. 
• Strengthen and encourage collaboration between local businesses, government, non-profit, and citizen-led lake, stream or watershed associations.
• Promote a network of peer-to-peer learning and opportunities for citizen groups
• Provide funding through the Mini-Grant Program to help establish groups

Guidebooks are available to help lake/river associations build their organizational capacity so they are prepared to improve and protect our waters.

Form a Lake or River Group:
This guidebook will provide the guidance and tools necessary to organize an effective lake or river group. Upon completion you will understand how to establish your new organization, where to look for resources, how to form community partnerships and how to begin setting goals for the protection or improvement of your lake or river.

Engaging New Members & Leaders:
This guidebook will help you discover strategies for recruiting members and fresh volunteers, as well as tools to promote and equip new leaders. The guide will also assist your group in creating an action plan to initiate and expand your member and leadership base.

Program Planning:
This guidebook will provide the tools for your lake or river group to develop program plans that help make your Association activities more effective. By the end of the guidebook you will have started a program plan that can guide your next shoreland restoration project, membership drive, fundraising event or any association activity with clear goals and connection to your mission.

Communicating Effectively:
This guidebook will walk you through the steps of conceptualizing and executing a clear message to a target audience with the goal of achieving a specific outcome. It will provide you with the tools to develop your association's message and communicate it effectively through multiple channels.