Projects

The Center for Collaborative Policy, a program of California State University, Sacramento, offers services to parties seeking collaborative solutions to complex public policy issues at the state, regional, and local levels. Recent Center projects include:

• San Francisco Community Engagement Benchmarking Study
• Napa County Regional Housing Needs Allocation Process
• Fresno Utility Advisory Committee
• California Condor, Golden Eagle and Wind Energy Workshop
• Citizens Redistricting Commission
• California Mental Health Planning Council Strategic Plan
• Census 2010: Reaching California’s Hard to Count Populations
• Owens Lakebed Master Plan Underway
• Sierra National Forest Project Planning Forum Mediation
• United States Forest Service Sierra Cascades Dialog
• United States Forest Service Regional Roundtable on National Planning Rule
• California Bay Delta Vision Project
• California’s Alert and Warning System Collaborative
• Lake Davis Pike Eradication Project
• State Water Board Strategic Plan
• Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Plan
• Interagency Collaboration for Local Emergency Services and Homeland Security
• Lower Truckee River TMDL
• Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District / West Sacramento Transition Plan
• Fresno Public Utilities, Utility Advisory Committee
• Placer County Affordable Housing Process
• Alpine County Ad Hoc Winter Recreation Dialog
• California Ocean Protection Council Strategic Plan Development
• California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)
• California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Emergency Plan Development
• Governor’s Emergency Operations Executive Council (GEOEC)
• Statewide Emergency Management Interoperability Collaborative
• Emergency Health Volunteers Assessment and Operational Plan
• California Compliance Project for National Incident Management System for Disasters
• California State Citizen Corps Council Formation & Strategic Plan Development for Emergency Services/Homeland Security
• Sacramento City Special Needs Emergency Evacuation Summit
• Emergency Response Practitioner- Electeds Scoping Summit for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta
• Reforming the State Mandate Reimbursement Process
• San Francisco Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment (ENCHIA)
• Lower Yolo Bypass Stakeholder Process: Feasibility Assessment
• South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project
• Sacramento Area Water Forum Successor Effort
• Lower American River Task Force
• Initial Fisheries and In-Stream Habitat Management and Restoration Plan for the Lower American River (or “FISH Plan”)
• California Water Boards Public Involvement Assessment and Training
• California Bay-Delta Authority Project (CALFED)
• Sacramento Transportation and Air Quality Collaborative
• Attorney General’s Task Force on Domestic Violence
• Integrated Storage Investigations Conjunctive Use Program
• Lahontan Water District/Truckee River Sediment Collaborative
• California Water Plan Update
• Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Advisory Committee
• California Floodplain Management Task Force
• Sacramento River Corridor Floodway Planning Forum
• California Indian Heritage Center Outreach
• American River Parkway Plan Update
• Evaluation of California Dialogue on End of Life Issues
• Pilot Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Metal Finishing
• Stanislaus Recreation Stakeholders
• Lake Tahoe Restoration ("Pathway 2007")

San Francisco Community Engagement Benchmarking Study

The City and County of San Francisco selected the Center and San Francisco partners Community Focus and Public Policy Collaboration to perform a Community Engagement Benchmarking Study. The purpose of the study is to evaluate best practices to inform San Francisco’s community engagement for bond programs.The Center’s team will conduct a literature review and analyze at least three other jurisdictions in the country to make recommendations for San Francisco’s future community engagement programs. Gina Bartlett from the Center, Malka Kopell from Community Focus, and Nicholas Dewar from Public Policy Collaboration are excited to kick off this effort in January.

Napa County Regional Housing Needs Allocation Process

In partnership with Envirocom, the Center is providing facilitation, negotiation and public participation services to the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency’s six member jurisdictions (American Canyon, Yountville, Calistoga, St. Helena, Napa City and Napa County) toward the creation of a successful Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process that will be implemented from 2014 to 2022. RHNA is a state mandated process for determining how many housing units, including affordable units, each community must plan to accommodate.

California law requires regional councils of government in California to determine the existing and projected regional housing needs. In the Bay Area, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) performs this function. ABAG is required to determine each county’s share of projected regional housing need.

The jurisdictions decided to launch a sub-regional process, where they develop their own methodology to apply to the allocation process which can increase local control and allow for more flexibility in making adjustments to jurisdictional allocations.

This project included an assessment, where confidential meetings were held with local elected leaders and city administrators; focus groups were held with stakeholder groups (affordable housing, neighborhood groups, developers, wine industry/agriculture, local business, schools, mobile home parks). An online survey was also created to seek input from all other interested members of the public. Two public workshops were held during the first phase of the effort both educate participants as to the process at hand and seek their feedback on the importance of various statutory factors. (For example, a factor with high importance to all was “protect prime agricultural land.”) Approximately 60 people attended each of the first two workshops. A final public workshop was held in the May 2012 to receive public comment on the subregion’s draft methodology. The Center and Envirocom will assist the subregion with any final negotiations through the end of 2012.

Fresno Utility Advisory Committee

The Center provided strategic design and facilitation services to the City of Fresno’s public Utilities Advisory Committee from 2006 – 2011. The volunteer citizens, appointed by their City Council members and the Mayor were convened to set and review annual and five-year utility rates, urban growth management, financial and capital plans. The Utility Advisory Committee presented their last 5-year rate plan for the fiscal years 2012-2016 in the Spring of 2011. The members were proud of their proposal which was protective of both the integrity of the utility system and Fresno’s rate payers.

California Condor, Golden Eagle and Wind Energy Workshop

The Center designed and facilitated a 65-person, two-day workshop in December 2011 which was jointly sponsored by the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Land Management, and the California Department of Fish and Game. It was the first time stakeholders from the wind energy development, environmental nongovernmental community had been convened by the agencies for the purpose of exploring the challenges associated with wind energy development in the Tehachapi and Southern Sierra Mountains and protection of California condors and golden eagles. The focus of the workshop was information sharing, understanding of the respective interests of participating stakeholders, and identification of ideas and resources the participants had to creatively address the various issues they face. A pre workshop assessment was conducted which provided significant insight to the stakeholders and informed the design of the event. A ‘design team’ was also convened to vet the workshop approach which included member from the wind energy and environmental NGO communities. The work conducted through the design team process spurred considerable dialogue within each stakeholder community deepening the quality of the conversation that took place at the workshop. The Workshop resulted in robust, prioritized lists of suggested future actions for both condor and golden eagle issues. The suggestions were taken by the agency sponsors to assist them in proposing next steps.

Citizens Redistricting Commission

The 14-member Commission is charged with redrawing California's Senate, Assembly, State Board of Equalization, and Congressional districts based on information gathered during the 2010 census. The Commission had the Center create a comprehensive, multi-level civic engagement process designed to address the Commission’s mission. The Center also designed and convened a statewide session to receive information about outreach efforts by local and statewide organizations.

California Mental Health Planning Council Strategic Plan

The California Mental Health Planning Council, mandated by federal and state statute, is a multicultural consumer, family, provider, and advocate organization providing oversight to the California Department of Mental Health regarding accessibility, availability, and accountability of the State's mental health system. Sarah facilitated a two-day strategic planning retreat in January 2011. To prepare for the event, the Center conducted a situation assessment, interviewing key stakeholders and examining how the Planning Council’s efforts matched with their federal and state mandates. The strategic planning event, held in San Diego, began with a scan of the external environment, reviewed and updated the group’s mission and vision statements, set 5-year goals and began to craft actions to implement the goals. A professional graphic recorder, Emily Shepard, assisted the group on the first day of the session. Participants spoke earnestly about how powerful the visuals were and how much they deepened their experience.

In April 2011 a two-day implementation session was held with the group’s seven work groups to development individual Work Plans, each tied to the new goals developed in January.

Census 2010: Reaching California’s Hard to Count Populations

Census 2010 is the most important in California’s history. Without a full count the State faces a potential loss of a Congressional seat and billions of dollars in much needed federal funding. At the same time, California’s unique diversity, density and sheer size present significant challenges in achieving a complete count in Census 2010. California is home to 12 percent of the nation’s population but more than 30 percent of what Census experts term Hard to Count (HTC). Further, due to the mortgage crisis and high unemployment levels, there is likely to be an increase in HTC areas.

In response to the extraordinary need to ensure a complete count, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger commissioned the California Complete Count Committee (CCCC). This statewide committee brings together public and private sector leaders to assist with Census advocacy and outreach. To coordinate the CCCC and state government Census efforts with the US Census Bureau and local government efforts the Governor appointed a director of the Complete Count Effort (CCE), staffed from within the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR). OPR contracted with Sacramento State, Center for Collaborative Policy (CCP) to help achieve outreach goals and implement the statewide strategy.

The Census outreach strategy provides a framework and principles supporting expenditures in the most effective ways and builds upon best practices established during the “California, You Count!” Census 2000 campaign. The 2000 campaign developed and implemented innovative grassroots outreach resulting in a Census questionnaire return rate exceeding national standards.

The State’s 2010 Census effort is based on the following best practices:

• Conduct outreach at the grassroots level
• Establish close partnerships and coordination with the Bureau, counties, cities, and community based and faith based organizations
• Target outreach invested in areas and populations least likely to respond
• Locally produce paid-media messages in culturally appropriate, native language
• Deliver messages through individuals trusted within the HTC communities
• Conduct high touch and high impact outreach events within HTC communities
• Ensure Governor’s Office, Cabinet Secretaries, and State Agencies and Departments commitment to provide staff and make outreach resources available to the campaign
• Locate Census Questionnaire Assistance Centers (QACs) (sites where community members can receive assistance in filling out their Census forms) in the areas where people are least likely to respond
• Staff QACs with trusted individuals able to provide culturally appropriate aid in native languages

CCP staff assisted the Governor’s Office in planning a Statewide Readiness Assessment, which included convening 20 regional public meetings throughout the State to learn what would best serve each community. The public meetings focused on identifying local Trusted Messengers, locations for QACs and local effective Media outlets. The public meeting design was as followed: informational and background presentations from both the State and the US Census Bureau, interactive media map where participants offered their input on a large wall map, small group discussion on trusted messengers and table report backs. Early engagement of the HTC communities in California indentified key gaps including a need for the State to coordinate outreach efforts across sectors, a need for templates and other materials to be available to those assisting the effort, and a need for separate county support and resources to organize complete count efforts. This feedback informed the decision to provide a separate county funding stream and resulted in development of web based outreach resources.

After completing the 20 regional meetings CCP assisted with the implementation of the statewide outreach strategy. The strategy focused on leveraging partnerships and resources to reach the hardest to count communities. Staff worked to coordinate efforts throughout the state by partnering with foundations, non-profits, elected officials and the counties to identify outreach gaps while avoiding duplication with other efforts. The team worked to create relevant and California specific outreach materials, building toolkits for targeted outreach.

The critical outreach period began in January 2010. CCP staff assisted in creating tools and outreach resources such as information webcasts, sector toolkits and outreach events. CCP staff helped coordinate events in some of the HTC counties for “Be Californian, Be Counted” day on March 20, 2010.

A sector approach, with tailored methods for key groups included:

• State agencies
• Elected officials
• Counties
• Schools
• Non Profit/Philanthropies
• Grant Makers
• Faith Based
• Employers
• Unions
• Caseworks and Social Workers
• Disabled Community
• Utilities
• Senior Citizens

For more information on the efforts of the California Complete Count effort for the 2010 Census please visit www.californiacompletecount.org and remember Be Californian. Be Counted!

Owens Lakebed Master Plan Underway

The Center is facilitating a master planning process for the Owens Lakebed in the Eastern Sierra. The Owens Lake, which dried up in the 1900s primarily due to water diversions, was once the largest polluter of PM10 in the western United States. Dust control measures have successfully reduced emissions while also enhancing habitat on the lakebed. A diverse group of interests has embarked on a broad collaborative process to develop an Owens Lakebed “Master Plan” in 2010. The Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, responsible for dust mitigation, has convened the collaborative. California State Lands owns the land under the lakebed while the Great Basin Air Pollution Control District regulates dust mitigation. These entities plus representatives of agriculture, local business, recreation, local, state, federal and tribal government are working together to grapple with the complex lakebed issues. The “Master Plan” will be a document that identifies broadly supported goals and objectives to enhance the Owens Lakebed. The plan will focus on dust mitigation, habitat and wildlife, water efficiency methods, and potential renewable energy development. The outcome will be a collaborative vision for the future of the Owens Lakebed. The decision making Planning Committee will develop the plan and recommend it for adoption by the implementing organizations.

Sierra National Forest Project Planning Forum Mediation

A significant challenge to national forests in the Sierra Nevada is unleashing controversy associated with management actions. These actions are essential to reducing fuel loads, providing habitat, improving public safety, reintroducing fire, and supporting vibrant ecosystems now and in the future. The Center mediated an agreement that ended a decade of controversy by applying a cross-disciplinary scientific framework to collaboratively develop a project under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act. Between the 2007 assessment and 2009, the scientific framework emerged to provide the foundation for a potential project on the area known as Kings River and Dinkey Creek. Mediator Gina Bartlett worked with Forest Service staff to identify a group of stakeholders representing landowners, environmentalists, timber industry, fire specialists, air quality and wildlife agencies to negotiate how the project should be developed. Scientists, vetted with stakeholders to ensure credibility, engaged as technical resources to the negotiation. The parties held a series of conversations and technical discussions that led to adopting the scientific framework and developing a project that all the parties could support. The group has received federal funding and has now expanded the area to 130,000 acres that includes 20,000 acres of adjacent private lands.

United States Forest Service Sierra Cascades Dialog

The Center is designing and facilitating a new working group in California: the Sierra-Cascades Dialog Group. The dialog will focus on the future of the Sierra Nevada and Cascades, with a focus on the national forests in these regions. Dialogs provide an opportunity for learning, shared meaning, aligned actions, mutual respect and understanding different perspectives. The dialog will regularly bring together 150-200 public and private land managers and stakeholders to grapple with an “all lands” approach to planning and conservation and lay the foundation for Forest Plan revisions in the West. Participants represent a broad range of stakeholder including all types of government, communities, environmental, water agencies, youth and industry. The outcomes of the dialog will inform future Forest Service decisions.

United States Forest Service Regional Roundtable on National Planning Rule

As the Forest Service revises its national planning rule, the Center worked with Region 5 to design a dynamic session for 300 diverse stakeholders to have a say on the key issues in the new planning rule. The planning rule guides national forests in developing their individual forest management / strategic plans. The planning rule has always been met with controversy and legal challenge. As part of a national collaborative effort, the Center worked with Forest Service staff to design an outreach strategy to ensure all interest groups, including youth, participated in the regional roundtable. The Center conducted simultaneous Workshops in Sacramento, Redding, San Bernardino and Bishop and designed an interactive session engaging participants in small group discussions on topics fundamental to the Forest Plan. The design included video conferencing to link four simultaneous locations and provide consistent messaging from Forest Service leadership. The workshop included an afternoon session for professional stakeholders, planners and Forest Service staff and an evening workshop for the interested public. Lastly, the Center developed independent reports from each meeting venue to inform the planning rule writing team developing the revised rule. In early 2011, the Center will help organize roundtables on the draft planning rule.

California Bay Delta Vision Project: Stakeholder Assessment and Development of Vision and Strategic Plan

Delta Vision was initiated by a Governor’s Executive Order in 2007 to create a long-term vision and implementing plan for the California Bay Delta region, recognizing that the future of the Delta is in jeopardy due to numerous stressors. The Executive Order established a seven person Blue Ribbon Task Force to develop the Vision and a Stakeholder Coordination Group (SCG) to advise the Task Force. The Center’s role in the Delta Vision process was to organize, coordinate and lead stakeholder participation activities. The Center team conducted a major stakeholder assessment at the beginning of the process (75 interviews), planned and facilitated the many SCG work groups and plenary sessions, and worked with the Delta Vision Task Force and staff leadership to formulate the overall strategy and work products. The SCG was ultimately comprised of more than 40 stakeholders representing environmental, water supply, business, community, environmental justice, tribal, local government, agricultural, infrastructure, recreational and other interests. The SCG provided the Blue Ribbon Task Force with scenarios and policy recommendations that contributed to the formation of the Vision as well as the development of the Strategic Plan.

To view the Stakeholder Assessment, see www.csus.edu/ccp/projects/summary/DV_Stakeholder_Assessment_Report.pdf

To view the final report on the Delta Vision, see www.deltavisionfoundation.org/Delta Vision Final.pdf

California’s Alert and Warning System Collaborative – California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA)

California Emergency Management Agency (Cal EMA) held 2 workshops in August 2007 to address wireless communications and emergency alert and notification. The information from these workshops supported OES’ efforts to meet the requirements of AB2231 (Pavley), which required a working group to assess existing and future technologies available in the public and private sectors for the expansion of transmission of emergency alerts to the public through a public-private partnership. The first AB 2231 Working Group meeting was held on March 27, 2008. This will be the first meeting in a year-long process that will culminate in a Report to the Legislature as required by AB 2231.

Throughout 2008, the Alert & Warning Work Group convened subject matter experts in government and industry to review current efforts and discuss California's alert systems and capabilities.

The Center for Collaborative Policy was tasked with assisting the work groups in creating a 2009 Report to the Legislature which addressed future plans for a standardized notification system.

More information regarding the California’s Alert and Warning System Collaborative may be found at: http://www.oes.ca.gov/webpage/oeswebsite.nsf/content/
a6252759de5aea608825736800659da6?opendocument

Lake Davis Pike Eradication Project – California Department of Fish and Game U.S Forest Service Plumas National Forest

In 1999, northern pike were rediscovered in Lake Davis, a noted world-class trout fishery in eastern Plumas County, California. Pike are a non-native predatory species that have the potential to do irreversible damage to California’s aquatic ecosystems and fisheries.

The Center became involved with the Lake Davis Pike Eradication Project after the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG), 1997 pike eradication effort, for unidentifiable reasons was unsuccessful. Due to the highly controversial subject content of the issue and international coverage, the Center was requested to foster a collaborative environment between DFG, the Steering Committee (a group of local Plumas County residents), and the U.S. Forest Service. The goal for involved parties was to restore Lake Davis to a world-class fishery, protect California aquatic ecosystems and fisheries impacted by Lake Davis, eradicate pike from the lake, and build the economy of the local community.

To accomplish these goals, the Center helped DFG conduct public involvement and outreach activities. The process included informational workshops, project newsletters, media promotion, risk communication training, and public involvement in the Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Study. The EIR/EIS document was approved and the project initiated without legal challenge.

In spring 2008, Lake Davis was restocked with 11 tons of Eagle Lake rainbow trout and is currently open for fishing and recreation. For more information regarding the Lake Davis Pike Eradication Project please visit: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/northernpike/
For more information on the public involvement process design please contact the Center for Collaborative Policy.

State Water Board Strategic Plan

The State Water Resources Control Board (the State Water Board) was created by the Legislature in 1967. The mission of the Water Board is to ensure the highest reasonable quality for waters of the State, while allocating those waters to achieve the optimum balance of beneficial uses. The joint authority of water allocation and water quality protection enables the Water Board to provide comprehensive protection for California's waters.

The Center worked with the Water Boards to engage key stakeholders in updating and significantly restructuring the Boards’ strategic plan.  The update process included two large scale Summits, one for 100+ internal participants and 90+ external stakeholders. Using material generated from these events, CCP worked with Board staff to create concepts for review at the regional level. CCP conducted regional outreach sessions in all Board Regions and compiled summary information for use in further revisions.

CCP facilitated various internal meetings to assist staff in crafting new text and formats for the plan.

CCP next facilitated an additional pubic meeting with the Water Quality Coordinating Council, composed of key Water Board executives and Governor appointees and attended by the interested pubic.

Text received one more revision and a final public comment meeting, led by CCP, was conducted in February 2008.

The current plan has received high marks from stakeholders as well as oversight bodies such as the Little Hoover Commission.

CCP is now assisting the Board in moving to implementation and evaluation phases of the plan.

More about this project and all supporting materials may be found at: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/strategicplan/2007update.html.

Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Plan

The Center facilitates a 20-member collaborative guiding development and implementation of the Sonoma Valley Groundwater Management Plan. Prior to initiating the collaborative, CCP conducted an impartial assessment of issues and concerns related to water supply and groundwater management to learn if and how stakeholders might want to address these issues. Based on the results of these interviews, CCP recommended forming a Basin Advisory Panel to represent stakeholder interests and partner with SCWA to develop a groundwater management plan. The Panel recommended the plan, the first in the County developed using consensus, for adoption in 2007 and is now overseeing implementation of the adopted plan throughout the Sonoma Valley. The Center also facilitates the technical advisory committee, which reviews data, studies, and other technical information to prepare proposals for Panel approval. After the assessment, the Panel developed and approved the groundwater management plan after meeting together for 14 months. In 2008, the Panel begins to oversee implementation.

For more information, visit http://www.scwa.ca.gov/projects/svgroundwater/

The Groundwater Management Plan is available here: http://www.scwa.ca.gov/projects/svgroundwater/management_plan.php

A brief video regarding the project is available below:

Assessment of Collaborative Challenges and Possibilities for Emergency Services and Homeland Security at the Local Level: Discussion Paper

Local providers of homeland security and emergency services and programs face an increasingly complex system of federal and state oversight, operational structures, grant programs, and regulatory requirements. In April of 2006, the Center for Collaborative Policy, in partnership with the Institute for Local Government’s Collaborative Governance Initiative, convened a process to engage the user community at the local level with key state and federal agency representatives to help discover and define the needs of local officials dealing with multiple emergency management and homeland security challenges – specifically with regard to requirements for public engagement and other key stakeholder interaction across multiple grant programs and jurisdictions.  A focus group workshop and subsequent interviews uncovered concerns that the administrative apparatus at the federal and state levels currently does not adequately support the broad mandate of local governments for all-hazards emergency management.  The direct outcome of the stakeholder discourse was development of a discussion paper in May 2007, An Assessment of Collaborative Challenges and Possibilities for Emergency Services and Homeland Security at the Local Level. 

An Assessment of Collaborative Challenges and Possibilities for Emergency Services and Homeland Security at the Local Level (280 KB)

The purpose of the 2007 discussion paper is to help local governments better address the complexities of emergency services and homeland security through the use of the emerging and relevant tools of collaborative planning, management and problem solving, multi-stakeholder consensus building, and strategies for public involvement.  While the assessment does not evaluate a specific program, it is intended to reveal stakeholder insights on where public participation and collaborative techniques have potential to support the challenges faced by local-level emergency managers.  It also offers recommendations that provide a foundation for further dialogue about how to respond the identified challenges of governance, coordination, funding, and capacity building.  The discussion paper concludes by proposing eight areas for further elaboration and action, which include convening a diverse statewide forum of government jurisdictions, developing a template for stakeholder involvement, increasing public awareness and participation, training, linking new and existing networks, providing collaborative policy development tools, developing strategic planning templates at each level of government to accommodate public involvement, and exploring interest to initiate a dialogue among statewide associations of public officials.

This project was partially supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Lower Truckee River TMDL Stakeholder Process Feasibility Asessment

The Truckee River is one of the most complex and complicated rivers in the western U.S. It has an extraordinary range of demands placed on it throughout a reach that by comparison to other major western rivers, is relatively small (approximately 140 miles). 

Truckee River users include power generators, municipal, and recreational users in California and Nevada, residents and businesses in the Truckee Meadows (Cities of Reno and Sparks, and Washoe County), farmers and ranchers in eastern California and western Nevada including the Lahontan Valley, Federal military facilities, State and Federal fish and wildlife agencies, and the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe (PLPT), who steward Pyramid Lake and depend on the river as the only source of inflow and support of culturally significant fish species. A significant portion of the Truckee River is diverted by the Truckee Meadows Water Authority to serve the water needs of the Truckee Meadows region.  A significant amount of wastewater from the Truckee Meadows is treated at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility and is subsequently returned as treated effluent back to the Truckee River, upstream of the area known as the “Vista Reefs”.  The Truckee River is currently dependant on these return flows and through the pending Truckee River Operating Agreement (TROA), is expected to remain dependant on these flows for some time.  Nonetheless, the discharge of and dependence on effluent for river flows is not a desirable condition to the PLPT and to several water using jurisdictions in and near the Lahontan Valley.

The Cities of Reno and Sparks, Nevada (Cities) have proposed to conduct a “Third Party Total maximum Daily Load review and potential revision for nutrient loads in the Truckee River in Nevada.  The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agreed in principal that this proposal had merit but stipulated that the Cities must have a comprehensive stakeholder component as part of the effort.  They further recommended that the Cities contact CCP to advise and assist them in assessing stakeholder conditions and providing public process recommendations.  CCP conducted the assessment between January and June 2007.  It proved to be an exceptionally complex case.  CCP has recommended that a regional multi-party stakeholder negotiation be conducted in support of the proposed nutrient TMDL as well as other compelling water quality challenges for the Truckee River watershed.  NDEP and EPA have reviewed CCP’s recommendations and have expressed their approval to the Cities.  The Cities similarly support CCP’s recommendations and the project is initiating in fall 2007.

The report below presents the results of the stakeholder process assessment.

Stakeholder Process Feasibility Assessment: Lower Truckee River TMDL (3.96 MB)

Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District / West Sacramento Transition Plan

On November 1, 2007 the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District (SRCSD) began serving customers in the City of West Sacramento with wastewater conveyance and treatment services. With this arrangement, West Sacramento joins County Sanitation District 1, Sacramento, and Folsom as contributing agencies to SRCSD.  The addition of West Sacramento as a contributing agency to SRCSD was the culmination of almost 10 years in planning and construction.

West Sacramento will continue to collect wastewater from its residents and businesses, while SRCSD will convey the wastewater to its 165 million gallons per day state-of-the art treatment plant near Elk Grove. There it will be treated and discharged into the Sacramento River.  In addition to treating wastewater, SRCSD’s treatment plant annually turns 25,000 dry tons of biosolids into a Class A fertilizer, generates enough methane gas to provide electricity to fuel 50,000 homes, and provides up to 4 million gallons a day of recycled water to irrigate street medians, commercial landscaping, and park and school sites.

The Center for Collaborative Policy provided organization and facilitation services to SRCSD and West Sacramento in preparing the final Transition Plan for the completion of the process. The Transition Plan addressed issues relating to planning, finance, administration, operations, employee transition, public outreach, and wastewater source control.

For more information please visit: www.srcsd.com

Fresno Public Utilities, Utility Advisory Committee 

CCP worked intensively during the latter half of 2006 with the City of Fresno’s Utility Commission (UC) to determine a multi-year rate plan for the City’s five public utilities (water, wastewater, sewer, solid waste, and community sanitation).  The UC was dissolved when its work was completed. All of its recommendations were adopted by the City Council. The city is now in the process of forming an ongoing Utility Advisory Committee (UAC).  CCP will facilitate the 11 member UAC which will focus on annual and five year utility rate setting; urban growth management and other types of utilities fees; five-year utility financial & capital plans; utility financial policies; opportunities for expanding public involvement; and review and monitoring of the transition to a Special District.

The City of Fresno experienced almost no utility rate increases over the 10-year period 1986-2006.  Fund reserves had been significantly drawn down by a number of expenses beyond the control of the Utility (e.g. fuel and power).  Further, the Utility had also deferred maintenance and postponed inevitable expenditures while continuing to provide quality service. The UC found that two relatively large rate increases were needed in April and September of 2007 with more moderate increases in subsequent years.  The effort faced a number of challenges including an extremely compressed timeframe (the group met weekly for several months) and concerns about dire consequences rate increases could have on low income citizens  (addressed through a “life line” rate).  The UC recommended that the city adopt a series of financial policies that would guide their future rate-making and bond indebtedness. Further, the UC recommended the creation of a “Special District” as a preferred model to being part of the city as its sole purpose would be managing Fresno’s utilities. The UAC will take up this issue as part of their work.

Recruiting members to the new 11 member UAC has been more challenging than expected, due to the highly technical nature of the issues before the new Committee. The new Advisory Committee will likely hold their first meeting in November 2007.  Their orientation to the work ahead will be expedited through site visits and facilitated monthly meetings with guest presenters.

The City Council voted to implement the recommended rate increases of the UC.  At a public hearing held  February 27, 2007 the value of the commission was touted and it was suggested that a similar citizens Advisory Committee (UAC) be formed.  CCP was asked to facilitate the new UAC.

Placer County Affordable Housing Dialgoue

In 2005, the Placer County Affordable Housing Stakeholder Group (Group) was convened at the request of the Placer County Board of Supervisors to address the challenges of creating an inclusionary affordable housing ordinance. Individuals from the building industry, affordable housing advocacy and real estate and land owners were invited to take part in a collection of three interest-based, non-County “caucuses” to discuss issues with the content, intent and feasibility of the proposed ordinance.

The Center was brought on to assist with the facilitation and mediation of meetings, develop a clear definition of all parties' roles in the process, and define needs shared by all of the stakeholders. A variety of topics were identified for prioritization by the county, including the development of options for targeting a mix of income levels and creating tools to help parties address neighborhood opposition factors to name a few.

As the process moved forward with the assistance of the Center, the Group was able to identify a number of mutually acceptable agreements / principles designed to give the County guidance as it creates its affordable housing ordinance. Examples of these principles include a “certainty and timeliness” element to apply a consistent, expedient regulatory framework to affordable housing project approval and an understanding that affordable housing should be constructed with the same aesthetics and quality construction required of market-rate homes.

Over time, the Group has evolved their focus to a broader goal of a mutually supported Affordable Housing Program in Placer County. It will continue to meet to craft collaborative solutions to issues with the proposed affordable housing ordinance as they arise.

To view the full report on the Group’s activities, including its final recommendations, click the link below:

Status Report: Placer County Affordable Housing Process (244 KB)

Alpine County Ad Hoc Winter Recreation Dialog

Disputes over motorized and non-motorized recreation, both summer and winter, are an increasing challenge for federal and state resource agencies. There have been very few success stories reported to date, particular for winter recreation. One reason is that efforts to find potential solutions often point to exclusion or severe limitation of one use or another from key areas. The Center is pleased to report on a potentially successful result that may offer hope, and some practical ideas, for accommodating different winter uses.

The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest's Carson Ranger District lies just east of Lake Tahoe and stretches over the Nevada line into California. Its 368,600 square acres are split almost 50-50 between Nevada and California. The northern edge of the district is north and west of Reno, Nevada and the southern boundary extends 84 miles into California's Alpine County, ending approximately 25 miles north of Yosemite National Park in California. [See Map of Alpine Winter Recreation Area]. The Forest Service estimates that the majority of the Carson Ranger District is within a four-hour drive for over 10 million people. The District is a popular destination for diverse winter activities, both motorized (snowmobiling) and human-powered (cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding). One increasingly popular area for these activities is known as Hope Valley, located south of Lake Tahoe along Highway 88 in Alpine County. Increased popularity has also increased challenges for the District in managing the resource. Conflict between motorized and non-motorized winter users of the Hope Valley area has become a particular challenge in the last 10 years, resulting in litigation and obstacles to adoption of a winter recreation plan.

In late 2005 the District contacted the Center seeking assistance in efforts to reduce conflict, gather citizen input, and build public support for a winter recreation plan. The Center previously had assisted an adjoining USFS District in California, the Calaveras Ranger District of the Stanislaus National Forest, with a similar set of issues related to winter recreation in the Bear Valley, CA area. J. Michael Harty, an Independent Contract mediator with the Center (who also worked on the Bear Valley project) began working with the District and a group of key winter recreation stakeholders to explore options. Following an assessment of the situation, the District and stakeholders established an Alpine County Ad Hoc Winter Recreation Dialog (the “Dialog”) in early 2006. The District and Alpine County agreed on a set of principles for developing a joint winter recreation strategy, and these were adopted by the County Board of Supervisors in May 2006 (Resolution 2006-28). Dialog participants agreed on a set of Principles and Discussion Guidelines to structure their efforts. Here are some key elements from the Dialog Principles and Guidelines:

• The Alpine County Ad Hoc Winter Recreation Dialog (“Dialog”) is intended to be a forum for constructive discussion and option development around winter recreation issues in Alpine County.
  
  
• The Dialog is not being established as a formal committee with fixed membership. It is beginning with discussions among a core group of people who have been active in connection with a set of issues around winter recreation in Alpine County. Some people represent organizations, and others are participating on their own behalf. There is no fixed membership; participation in the Dialog is open to other people who are committed to constructive dialog and agree to these Guidelines.
  
  
• The Dialog seeks to explore mutually acceptable options for multi-use winter recreation in Alpine County. The Dialog is committed to addressing all relevant interests as part of its effort to develop options, as long as these interests are presented constructively and in good faith.
  
  
• The Dialog has multiple desired outcomes. One is to foster improved communication and understanding among user groups and interested individuals in Alpine County. A second goal is to share with the USFS initial views on potential options for Alpine County Winter Recreation.

Dialog participants included representatives from Alpine County government, Friends of Hope Valley, Lake Tahoe Snowmobile Association, Cal-Nevada Snowmobile Association, and Snowlands Network, along with private citizens. Dialog participants worked with the mediator and District during 2006 to explore ways to expand winter recreation opportunities around the District in order to reduce pressure on Hope Valley and provide high-quality user experiences. Although the Dialog explicitly did not require a consensus outcome, the efforts of Dialog participants yielded a unanimous agreement on a set of recommendations to the District in January 2007 for elements of a winter recreation plan. There was a clear understanding between the District and Dialog participants that extensive internal and public review would be required, and that the District could not simply adopt the recommendations. The District published a scoping document requesting public comment on its proposed winter recreation plan in February 2007. While the regulatory process requires additional steps including NEPA review, and other factors may influence outcomes, the District- Alpine County- Dialog effort offers hope for co-existence and continued enjoyment of Hope Valley's winter resources. The goal is to complete all decision making, including NEPA review, by September 2007.

For more information about the District's planning effort with Alpine County and the Dialog contact: Marnie Bonesteel, Carson Ranger District, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, 1536 South Carson Street, Carson City, NV 89701.

California Ocean Protection Council Strategic Plan Development

The California Ocean Protection Council (OPC) was established with the passage of the California Ocean Protection Act in 2004. The role of the Council is to:

• Coordinate activities of ocean-related state agencies to improve the effectiveness of state efforts to protect ocean resources within existing fiscal limitations.
  
• Establish policies to coordinate the collection and sharing of scientific data related to coast and ocean resources between agencies.
  
• Identify and recommend to the Legislature changes in law.
  
• Identify and recommend changes in federal law and policy to the Governor and Legislature.

The three voting members of the Council are the Secretary of Resources, the Secretary of Cal-EPA, and the Chair of the State Lands Commission (a position that rotates between the State Controller and the Lieutenant Governor). Two ex-officio members represent the State Senate and the State Assembly. The Coastal Conservancy serves as Secretary to the Council and provides direct staff support.

The Council met for the first time in January 2005. In September 2005, the Council Chair Mike Chrisman directed the Coastal Conservancy to undertake a process to develop a strategic plan for the Council. The Conservancy retained the Center for Collaborative Policy to guide the effort on behalf of the Council staff.

Working closely with the Council leadership and their staff over a six-month period the Center staff, Mary Selkirk and Susan Sherry, facilitated a successful process that resulted in a strategic plan unanimously approved and adopted by the Council on June 8, 2006, with broad public and State agency support. The strategic plan was formally announced at the California and the World Ocean '06 Conference in Long Beach on September 18, 2006.

The foundation for the strategic plan is based on six principles from the California Ocean Protection Act:

• Recognizing the interconnectedness of the land and the sea, supporting sustainable uses of the coast, and ensuring overall ecosystem health
  
• Improving the protection, conservation, restoration, and management of coastal and ocean ecosystems through enhanced scientific understanding, including monitoring and data gathering
  
• Recognizing the “precautionary principle” that emphasizes the priority for resource protection
  
• Identifying the most effective and efficient use of public funds by identifying gaps and new and innovative processes for achieving success
  
• Making aesthetic, educational, and recreational uses of the coast and ocean a priority
  involving the public in all aspects of the OPC process, through public meetings, workshops, public conferences, or other symposia.

The Ocean Protection Council adopted a vision for the Strategic Plan. The vision describes the kind of future the Ocean Protection Council strives to achieve for California’s ocean and coastal environment and for all the residents of the State who value and enjoy the ocean and coastlines of the State.

For more information on the Strategic Plan, visit the Ocean Protection Council website: http://resources.ca.gov/copc/strategic_plan.html

The strategic planning process was designed to be as open and inclusive as possible. The process included both internal and external stakeholders, including state agencies, NGOs, local jurisdictions (e.g. ports), private industry, and private funders. The inclusive process was in recognition of the high political visibility of this Council and the importance of ocean stewardship to the Administration.

The Center conducted preliminary interviews with Coastal Conservancy and Resources Agency leadership, did extensive background review of the legislation and other relevant materials, and developed a strawman outline for a strategic plan that was the basis for an initial working session with the Council staff. The Center worked with the Council staff to develop a preliminary outline for the plan, which became the basic architecture for all reviews by internal and external stakeholders. Over an eight-week period, Center and OPC staff together interviewed or held focus group sessions with:

• all Council members and/or their key staff,
• senior staff of all contributing state agencies,
• numerous private industry and foundation representatives,
• ocean scientists, and
• dozens of NGO representatives in Northern and Southern California.

A complete list of interviews is included in the Strategic Plan, available on the Ocean Protection Council website.

Center staff also facilitated two public workshops in Northern and Southern California attended by approximately one hundred people, to solicit specific recommendations for the draft plan.

California Ocean Protection Council
http://resources.ca.gov/copc/

California and the World Ocean '06 Conference
http://resources.ca.gov/ocean/cwo06/

Coastal Conservancy
http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/

California Mental Health Services Act (MHSA)

In November 2004, California voters passed Proposition 63, which created the Mental Health Services Act (MHSA). The goal of the MHSA is to create a state-of-the-art, culturally competent mental health service system for California adults, seniors, and children living with emotional disorders and mental illness. This historic statute redirects California’s mental health system toward transformation, such that mental health programs stress prevention, early intervention, wellness, recovery and resilience. Another groundbreaking aspect of the MHSA is its commitments and requirements to increase the level of participation and involvement of mental health consumers and their families in all aspects of the public mental health system, including but not limited to planning, policy development, service delivery and evaluation.

The Act’s funding is derived from a 1% tax on taxable personal income over $1 million. It is estimated that the MHSA will provide $2.1 billion for mental health funding over the next three years. The vision is to build a system where access will be easier, services more effective and less fragmented, barriers eliminated for underserved groups, out-of-home placement and institutional care reduced, and stigma toward those with mental illness no longer exists. The Act also expands the State’s commitment to developing and refining strategies for evaluating consumer outcomes and system/community indicators, using standardized measurement approaches where possible.

The State Department of Mental Health distributes MHSA funds to County Mental Health Departments based upon plans submitted by the 58 counties. The counties and their local service partners will provide the on-the-ground comprehensive services to renovate the state’s system of care, including treatment, prevention, early intervention, housing, job training and prescription drugs. Funding can only go to new or expanded programs that are based on models proven to be effective. State and local governments cannot redirect the funding.

The MHSA also created a Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission to ensure that services provided pursuant to the Act are cost effective and in accordance with recommended best practices subject to local and state oversight. The Commission also has a special role in developing and approving funding for programs addressing innovation, early intervention and prevention. The Commission, chaired by Darrell Steinberg, consists of 16 members, including the Attorney General or designee, the Superintendent of Public Instruction or designee, a State Senator and State Assemblyperson, and 12 gubernatorial appointments.

The Center has been actively involved with the launch of the Commission since July 2005, facilitating its first retreat, assisting with the design of its monthly agendas, and consulting with its Chair and Executive leadership on the development of collaborative partnerships. The Center also works with the Mental Heath Service Act staff team of the State Department of Mental Health on its priority setting and organizational development.

A new web-based resource called Network of Care provides Internet access to comprehensive mental health services available in each California county. Visit www.networkofcare.org

For more information on the Mental Health Services Act

California Department of Mental Health:
http://www.dmh.ca.gov/MHSA/default.asp

Mental Health Oversight & Accountability Commission
http://www.dmh.ca.gov/MHSOAC/default.asp

California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Emergency Plan Development

Governor’s Executive Order S-2-05 requires state agencies, under guidance of the Office of Emergency to develop emergency plans compliant with the California Standardized Emergency Management System (SEMS) and the National Incident Management System (NIMS).  The Office of Correctional Safety in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is required to implement departmental emergency plans compliant with SEMS and NIMS.  The Center is currently engaged in a multi-phased work design including: 1) strategic design; 2) departmental emergency plan development; 3) intra-departmental emergency plan development; 4) department-wide emergency plan implementation through training and exercises.

The challenges associated with this project are particularly complex given recent large scale organizational changes and oversight from the courts.  Beginning in FY07 (October 1, 2007), all federal preparedness funding will be contingent upon full compliance with the NIMS.  CDCR’s core mission requires the organization to operate in a continual heightened state of readiness.  Emergency management and interagency cooperation are therefore of critical importance to the department.

The Center has initiated phase 1 of the project which includes strategic consulting and project management.  During this process an internal project Steering Committee will be developed in order to assist in the implementation of all phases of the project.  In addition, stakeholder assessment interviews will be conducted which will guide the development of the CDCR Emergency Plan, and subsequently intra-departmental plans.

Governor’s Emergency Operations Executive Council (GEOEC)– Strategic Design and Policy Coordination Facilitation

The Governor’s Emergency Operations Executive Council (GEOEC) was established by Governor Schwarzenegger via Executive Order S-04-06 on April 18, 2006 to improve state agency coordination and overall state preparedness in California. The GEOEC was assigned three major tasks:

• Provide information to the Governor, Legislature, local agencies and the public on pending emergency conditions that threaten public health and safety.
  
  
• Develop a consolidated set of budget, legislative and administrative recommendations to improve State prevention and response capabilities to deal with pending threats to public health and safety.
  
  
• Assist in emergency preparedness management, response, recovery and mitigation efforts.

The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) and the Office of Homeland Security (OHS) were tasked to convene the leadership of approximately 20 executive branch offices, departments and agencies to address a wide array of coordination on emergency services and homeland security issues. 

Member agencies and departments have engaged in robust dialogue which has guided the Council’s struggle for the development of a coordinated effort in key areas including Budget, Legislation, Administration and Operations.  Prior to the GEOEC’s creation in 2006, there was no forum in which agencies could discuss and coordinate their efforts as they pertain to emergency management and homeland security. 

Along with the opportunity to coordinate, state agencies and departments have experienced the difficult task of working through complex dialogue and discussion, which has yielded the development of consensus-based policy recommendations to the Governor and his administration.

The Center provided organizational and process design, facilitation, policy mediation, and strategic planning services for the coalition of agencies, chaired by the Director’s of OES and OHS.  Since its inception in the summer of 2006, the GEOEC has successfully developed a charter for convening, developed a methodology for coordinating among the varied agencies on many topics, and identified key targets for joint collaboration on legislative priorities, budgetary options, operational coordination, and comprehensive strategic planning for California. 

Statewide Emergency Management Interoperability Collaborative

California has two primary multi-party organizations tasked with addressing the state’s critical communications challenges for disasters and emergencies.  The California Statewide Interoperability Executive Committee (CALSIEC) and the Public Safety Radio Strategic Planning Committee (PSRSPC) together represent the diverse local and state first responder community.  The Center is assisting both organizations to develop statewide communications interoperability strategic plans that address current modernization challenges and federal mandates that have evolved since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and the Gulf Coast hurricanes. 

The current planning effort has allowed diverse first-responder interests to address their specific communication needs in a coordinated manner that covers the full range of geographical, technical, operational, and policy issues.  Emergency responders at all levels in California have been struggling to integrate standard procedures in the state with new federal systems mandated as a result of recent national emergencies.  Prior to the Center’s involvement, the two main groups tasked with this coordination had been inactive and no formal mechanism was in place to address critical coordination needs and mandates for public safety.

The integrated effort of coordinating these two primary organizations, involving dozens of stakeholders and diverse organizations statewide, has allowed for key partners to successfully achieve consensus-based planning goals.  The current 2007 Statewide Integrated Public Safety Communications Strategic Plan is available at http://www.oes.ca.gov.

Since 2005, the Center for Collaborative Policy has assisted CALSIEC and PSRSPC with meeting planning design and facilitation; charter development and stakeholder liaison; strategic Planning, and policy mediation for successful critical deliverables.

Emergency Health Volunteers Assessment and Operational Plan

The Center provided organizational and stakeholder assessment expertise, facilitation, and public policy mediation services for a coalition convened by the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), in the Health and Human Services Agency.   EMSA has been delegated by the California Health and Human Services Agency and the California Department of Health Service s to administer a new national program taking shape in California; the Emergency System for the Advanced Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals (ESAR-VHP).  This program is a companion effort within the national public health/emergency medical system to similar efforts in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to address national capacity in the wake of 9/11.

For the assessment, the Center interviewed thirty professionals covering a wide range of stakeholders, including disaster services, emergency medical, local and state government, and volunteer groups.  Through this multi-party interview and organizational design effort, a structure for the long-term project was crafted that involved all key stakeholders in the field.  The assessment set the stage for comprehensive work on all aspects of policy, program management, strategic planning, and operational integration into California’s emergency response system.

As a next step and subsequent effort to the 2005 assessment, the Center provided organizational and stakeholder involvement expertise, facilitation, and public policy mediation services for a coalition convened by EMSA  to design and integrate a new operational process for the ESAR-VHP system in California. 

The Center worked with and facilitated several key experts to create a template of initial issues to be addressed for the new system.  A coalition of stakeholders covering the full range of operational integration was convened, and crafted the consensus document over a 3 month process primarily consisting of group conference calls and regular commenting on successive drafts of the document — while addressing policy issues arising out of the debate.  The Center provided pre-reading materials and comprehensive notes for all meetings; document management for the final operational procedure/agreement was also provided, as well as logistical support and stakeholder liaison during the process.

The final (but continually updated) consensus-based operational plan for the new volunteer program is consistent with the National Response Plan, National Incident Management System, and the state’s Standardized Emergency Management System protocols.

For more information, visit the California Medical Volunteer website at https://medicalvolunteer.ca.gov/

California Compliance Project for National Incident Management System for Disasters

The National Incident Management System (NIMS) provides a consistent nationwide template to establish federal, state, tribal and local governments and private sector and nongovernmental organizations to work together effectively and efficiently to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from domestic incidents.

The Center provided organizational design, strategic planning, facilitation, and policy mediation services to the California Standardized Emergency Management Advisory Board and issue-specific committees that led to national NIMS compliance for California.  The project design allowed a mechanism for diverse organizational perspectives to be incorporated into an issue resolution program and consistent template for compliance. 

The statewide project involved assisting the Emergency Management and Homeland Security community throughout California meet compliance requirements for the new National Incident Management System (NIMS).  All states are required to be NIMS-compliant to be eligible for additional federal grants in 2007 and beyond.  NIMS requires the involvement of a comprehensive and multi-disciplinary cadre of stakeholders at all levels of government, the private sector, Tribal Nations and the non-profit / volunteer community.  The California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services (OES) engaged a design consisting of ten committees covering a wide range of key policy issues important to the state and invited a cross-section of stakeholders to participate throughout.  The result was strong support for this open dialogue, where the user communities themselves participated in the policy and program development mechanism.  A stakeholder-driven workbook for local government, state agency, and tribal compliance was created by rolling up suggestions and comments into a common template framework and then re-releasing the final document to the users statewide and convening workshops to assist with active documentation and implementation.  The intensive effort was completed in time for California’s Director of the OES to declare the state in compliance at a public forum of the group’s executives – attended by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, ensuring uninterrupted grant and policy authority for the next year. 

This form of consensus policy development assistance not only allows groups to work through complex disaster response planning issues, it also sets the stage for long term implementation success – since the user community helped craft the very compliance documents they were later asked to complete.

For more information, go to the SEMS/NIMS integration website at: http://rimscoastal.oes.ca.gov/Operational/OESHome.nsf/ALL/
3D8DC8F9C9DCF2D688256FCB0065B847?OpenDocument

California State Citizen Corps Council Formation & Strategic Plan Development for Emergency Services/Homeland Security

In 2006-07, the Center provided organizational and stakeholder design, facilitation, mediation, and public policy development services for a coalition convened by the Governor’s Office, CaliforniaVolunteers staff.   The California State Citizen Corps Council – one of several programs funded through California’s Homeland Security grants  – involves all key stakeholders in the emergency volunteer field, covering volunteer groups, national service programs, first responders, and community-based organizations.  The Center assisted the Governor’s office with stakeholder participation, Charter/by-laws design, organizational structuring consistent with federal homeland security program and California response plan guidance. 

The initial 3-5 year strategic framework is being implemented in 2007 with a comprehensive work plan involving all participants, including a networked system of linkages between numerous affiliated workgroups and committees simultaneously undertaking policy and program development issues in the emergency volunteer arena.

For more information, visit the California Citizen Corps Council website at: http://www.csc.ca.gov/cc/cc.asp

Medical Reserve Corps Disaster Program Statewide Integration Summit:  A key component of California’s Citizen Corps Program, the Medical Reserve Corps (MRCs) was successfully developed in California after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, with approximately 25 teams having been formed.  A joint conference was sponsored by the CaliforniaVolunteers O ffice of the G overnor, and the Emergency Medical Services Authority (EMSA), to address near-term challenges and statewide consistency as the new volunteer-based medical disaster support system matures.  The Center provided organizational and conference design, facilitation, and policy mediation services to the summit effort.  The resulting event and documentation allowed for the determination of core values, strategic similarities, and consistent principles for the state’s network of MRCs, and identified work planning action items to continue throughout the next year.  The conference gathering was determined to be repeated annually or more often, due to the success of this effort.

For more information, visit the Medical Reserve Corps website at: http://www.medicalreservecorps.gov/HomePage

Sacramento City Special Needs Emergency Evacuation Summit

As part of Sacramento’s comprehensive effort to update the City’s Evacuation Plan, the Center was asked to provide organizational and stakeholder design, facilitation, and policy mediation services for a one-day conference in February 2006 directed at identifying stakeholder needs and perspectives for the city’s special needs community.  A design team of city and county officials, with key representatives of the region’s transportation challenged/special needs community jointly designed and planned the event to maximize the input possible from a diverse array of entities.  With more than hundred individuals attending, the event was opened by the Mayor of Sacramento and was reported on by local media.  The successful event outlined a prioritized list of key areas most important to the special needs community, and set the stage for future interaction and integrated projects that will ultimately include these issues into the city’s Evacuation Plan update and subsequent training efforts.

Emergency Response Practitioner-Electeds Scoping Summit for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta

The Center provided organizational and stakeholder design, facilitation, mediation, and public policy development services for a coalition convened by the California Delta Protection Commission (DPC) in June 2006 to discuss joint interests in the emergency response and planning area.  Elected officials from the five counties encompassing the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta region came together in a small setting with representatives of the professional emergency response community in those jurisdictions to discuss future visions, current concerns, and opportunities to strengthen collaboration for joint benefit.  Extensive pre-work was accomplished with key participants to allow for clear expectations to be pursued at the event itself.  Conclusions from the summit have been incorporated in subsequent DPC work and has set the stage for cooperative efforts for future multi-jurisdictional projects for emergency and disaster planning.

For more information, visit the California Delta Protection Commission website at http://www.delta.ca.gov/

San Francisco Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment (ENCHIA)

Increasingly, public health and urban planning professionals understand that neighborhood design directly influences human health outcomes. Health impact assessment (HIA) is a new planning and assessment tool being used in Europe and the United States to judge the effects of a policy, program or project on the health of a population. Conceptually similar to the environmental impact assessment process, HIA aims to improve health and health equity by providing decision-makers with information on what potential changes in health determinants might result from a new policy or project. For example, an HIA might examine an employment, zoning, or transport policy, and assess the effects that changes in environmental or social factors might have on the health of a population.

In November 2004, the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) in partnership with public agencies, community organizations, technical experts, and CCP convened the Eastern Neighborhoods Community Health Impact Assessment (ENCHIA). The ENCHIA, occurring in parallel with the San Francisco Planning Department’s Eastern Neighborhoods Planning Process, aims to analyze how community planning and real estate development in the Mission, South of Market, and Potrero Hill/Showplace Square neighborhoods can promote community and individual health. The Center is providing consultation on strategic direction, process design, and staff/stakeholder training for the project.

The assessment is a consensus-building process involving a Community Council of over 30 public and private organizations and facilitated by SFDPH staff. Since convening, the Council has agreed on a vision of a “healthy city” and has identified a series of objectives and indictors to assess the state and progress of the healthy city vision. To complete this, the group is undergoing a comprehensive examination of multiple factors that influence health, including housing adequacy, access to goods and services, schools, parks and public spaces, transit, quality pedestrians and bicycle environments, energy consumption, air quality and noise, employment and economic health, safety, equity, community cohesion, and civic participation. Thus far, the ENCHIA has produced data profiles for many of these factors in the geographic areas under study. It has also identified strategies for improving health through community design. The next steps for the ENCHIA process include researching and prioritizing these strategies and developing a communication plan. The findings and recommendations of the ENCHIA process will be synthesized into a Community Health Impact Report (CHIR) which will help to inform the public, city agency staff, the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors on the plans and zoning controls for these neighborhoods.

Draft community health assessment of the Eastern Neighborhood Area Plans using San
Francisco's Healthy Development Measurement Tool:
http://www.thehdmt.org/etc/HDMT.EN.Eval_12.25.2007.pdf

For information about the Healthy Development Measurement Tool and for community
health information visit:
http://www.thehdmt.org/

World Health Organization Health Impact Assessment
http://www.who.int/hia/about/en/

Symposium on Land Use and Health: Fostering Collaboration between Planners and Environmental Public Health Officials, February 19-20, 2004, Washington, D.C.
http://archive.naccho.org/documents/LUP-Summary-of-Proceedings.pdf

Lower Yolo Bypass Stakeholder Process: Feasibility Assessment

The Lower Yolo Bypass is the most downstream portion of the Yolo Bypass, a leveed 59,000 acre floodway located west of the lower Sacramento River. The purpose of the Bypass is to provide flood conveyance. It is a primary component of the Sacramento River Flood Control Project (FCP) and carries the cumulative high flows from several northern California waterways to the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta (Delta). Several islands that are largely under public and quasi-public ownership in the Lower Bypass have been flooded since 1997. Other islands have been neglected and are not being actively managed. These flooded and non-flooded areas include rapidly growing habitat areas and levee degradation. Previous agricultural and other infrastructure is inundated or severely impacted. Agricultural land management has been rendered infeasible. Private landowners on these islands and lands adjacent to these islands have been impacted by these conditions. As part of ongoing stakeholder efforts, the Center proposed to the Yolo Basin Foundation that a Feasibility Assessment be conducted to determine whether a stakeholder-based process could help create solutions to conditions in the Lower Bypass.

The report below presents the results of the assessment.

The Lower Yolo Bypass Stakeholder Feasibility Assessment Report (2.15 MB)

South Bay Salt Ponds Restoration Project

The South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project is the largest wetland restoration project in the western United States. Surrounded by the 3 million residents of the South Bay, the Project covers an area the size of the island of Manhattan. In 2003 the State Coastal Conservancy and its State and federal partners invited CCP to conduct an in-depth stakeholder and organizational assessment, designed to detail the interested community's issues and concerns about the planning process to restore the 16,000 acres of recently acquired industrial salt ponds, located primarily in South San Francisco Bay (the project includes about 1500 in the North Bay along the Napa River). Based on information gained in nearly 70 interviews, the Center assessment team prepared a comprehensive report to Project Partners laying out findings and detailed recommendations that included revising the overall restoration planning structure. This revised structure gave a prominent role to independent scientific input as well as intensive public participation in collaborative planning for tidal marsh restoration, flood protection improvements, and enhanced public access. The Center assessment team worked closely with Project Partners to refine the organizational recommendations, which were ultimately approved and adopted by Project leadership.

After the assessment was complete, Project Partners asked the Center's team to implement the collaborative Salt Pond restoration planning process. In addition, the Center was charged with developing and coordinating the broad public outreach and education program that complemented the planning process. Over the course of the 5-year planning process, the CCP team convened and facilitated over a hundred public meetings, including meetings of the Project’s Stakeholder Forum, Forum Work Groups, and numerous other technical and public workshops. The CCP Lead Facilitator participates as an ongoing member of the Project Management Team.

Since Project leaders finalized the restoration plan in 2008 and began implementation, the Center has continued to conduct Project public outreach and public engagement and to provide strategic consultation to the Project Management Team on issues like governance, integration of the Science Program, and planning for the next phase of restoration.

The CCP outreach strategy continues to help maintain broad public and stakeholder support for the restoration and gather stakeholder and partner input into the design of specific construction projects, planning for later phases of work, and scientific research issues. Components of the outreach strategy include periodic public meetings and workshops, an interactive website, a Facebook page, a quarterly electronic newsletter, an Annual Report, a project brochure, and other DVDs and publications.

To learn more about this project, visit http://www.southbayrestoration.org

The results of the stakeholder and organizational assessment are available at:
South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project: Stakeholder and Organizational Assessment Findings and Recommendations (1.42 MB)

Reforming the State Mandate Reimbursement Process

The Commission on State Mandates contracted with the Center to prepare an assessment of the potential to use a collaborative process to develop recommendations for fundamental reforms to the state's mandate reimbursement process. In 1979, the voters approved Proposition 4. Among other things, Proposition 4 requires that whenever the legislature or any State agency mandates a new program or higher level of service on local government, the State must provide a subvention of funds to reimburse the associated costs, with certain exceptions. In 1985 the Commission was created by the Legislature to hear and decide mandate claims. In recent years there has been much discussion about mandate reform but, so far, little consensus. The current process does not timely inform policy makers of the state's liability for mandate costs they incur nor does it timely reimburse local governments and school districts. Currently it takes about seven years for reimbursable claim determinations to be made. The Commission is seeking to streamline and reform the existing process for determining and reimbursing mandates.

For more information on the state mandate reimbursement process visit:
http://www.csm.ca.gov

To view the Center's final assessment report, click the link below:

Assessment Report: Reforming the Mandate Reimbursement Process (344 KB)

Sacramento Area Water Forum Successor Effort

A collaborative group of diverse interests convened by the Sacramento City-County Office of Metropolitan Water Planning to negotiate an agreement to:

• Provide a reliable and safe water supply for the region's economic health and planned development through the year 2030; and
• Preserve the fishery, wildlife, recreational, and aesthetic values of the Lower American River.

The Center provided strategic planning, facilitation, and mediation services to the Forum and is now helping the Forum implement its agreement of January 2001, an integrated package of actions with accompanying assurances. Represented in the Forum's negotiation and implementation of its agreement are the Sacramento region's business and agricultural leaders, environmentalists, citizen groups, water management, and local government officials. For more information, see the Water Forum website, www.waterforum.org. To review the Executive Summary of the Water Forum Agreement, go to http://www.waterforum.org/images/PDF/INTRO.PDF

In April 2005, the Water Forum completed the first Lower American River State of the River Report . The State of the River Report is the first ever comprehensive review of the health of the Lower American River , covering five key areas of river management: managing the river to protect habitat; maintaining and improving habitats near the river; meeting water quality goals and regulatory standards; stabilizing levees and controlling erosion; and communicating and collaborating with key stakeholders. Follow this link to read the report: http://www.waterforum.org/StateRiverReportFinal_4_21_05.pdf

In February 2006, the Central Sacramento County Groundwater Management Plan was developed by stakeholders from the Central Sacramento County Groundwater Forum (CSCGF), in coordination with the Sacramento County Water Agency and the Water Forum Successor Effort. Under the aegis of the Water Forum Successor Effort, the CSCGF was formed in February 2002 to provide recommendations on a basin governance body to the Successor Effort. Pending concurrence by the Successor Effort, the recommendations in the Groundwater Management Plan would be adopted by the appropriate agencies. To read the report, please click here: http://www.waterforum.org/CSCGWF/CSCGMP_FINAL_02_27_06.pdf

In February 2006, the Water Forum Successor Effort released its five-year progress report, Progress on the Seven Elements–A Review: 2000–2005. The Water Forum Agreement requires the Water Forum Successor Effort to conduct a comprehensive and “transparent” review and evaluation of progress at the end of the first five years of the Agreement.  As part of the evaluation, the Water Forum Successor Effort conducted a survey of stakeholder representatives. Survey results showed that

• Over 95 percent of respondents indicated support for continuing practice of addressing  “changed conditions”;
• 80 percent of stakeholder respondents concluded that the implementation of the Water Forum Agreement over the past five years has been good or better; and
• 76 percent felt the Water Forum Successor Effort is meeting the needs of their interest group or organization.

Notable accomplishments highlighted in the progress report include a new flow regime for the Lower American River, the publication of a comprehensive State of the River Report, significant improvements in regional water conservation efforts, and expansion of groundwater management. To read the report, please click here: http://www.waterforum.org/wfse5yrRvwEvalCover.htm

The signatories to the Water Forum agreement continue to work together to carry out the agreement. For example, as a Water Forum signatory, the City of Folsom has agreed to draw only 20,000 acre-feet of water from the river in years in which the projected flow into Folsom Lake drops below 400,000 acre-feet. The City is actively pursuing a backup supply of water for its needs to help it uphold this agreement. Follow this link for more information:
http://www.sacbee.com/content/community_news/folsom_cordova/story...

The Water Forum stakeholders recently celebrated another victory for in-stream habitat and the salmon fisheries of our region.  And, for the first time, the Water Forum extended its leadership beyond the historic agreement on the American River into another regional watershed.  This time the Water Forum coalition worked on behalf of the Cosumnes River. 

On October 17, 2005, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released 5,000 acre feet of the water into the dry river bed of the Cosumnes from the Folsom-South Canal.  This creates a riverbed saturation level that makes it possible for the fall salmon run to pass from the Delta to their natural spawning grounds in the Sierra foothills.  The intention is for this to happen each Fall to preserve the salmon and to provide water for riverine habitat.

This negotiation took two years of discussions between Mike Eaton of The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Keith DeVore, Sacramento County Water Agency Director.  Although TNC was not a signatory to the Water Agreement, they subsequently joined the Water Forum Successor negotiation addressing the South Sacramento groundwater management.   It was through that activity that TNC approached the Water Forum with their concerns about the Cosumnes River.  The County of Sacramento, along with the City of Sacramento, created and financially supported the work of the Water Forum for the six years it took to do the agreement.  Both the County and the City of Sacramento were stakeholders and actively participated in the negotiations.

Center Special Consultant Jeff Loux co-mediated the negotiation with Water Forum Executive Leo Winternitz.  Jim McCormack, Water Forum water engineer, did the technical work to support the negotiation.  Susan Sherry provided mediation advice.  Like other Water Forum efforts, it represented team work between mediators, technical experts and committed stakeholders. For a Sacramento Bee article and editorial on the agreement visit:

http://www.sacbee.com/content/news/story/13732096p-14574932c.html

http://www.sacbee.com/content/opinion/story/13741912p-14583815c.html

In February 2006, the Central Sacramento County Groundwater Management Plan was developed by stakeholders from the Central Sacramento County Groundwater Forum (CSCGF), in coordination with the Sacramento County Water Agency and the Water Forum Successor Effort. Under the aegis of the Water Forum Successor Effort, the CSCGF was formed in February 2002 to provide recommendations on a basin governance body to the Successor Effort. Pending concurrence by the Successor Effort, the recommendations in the Groundwater Management Plan would be adopted by the appropriate agencies. To read the report, please click here: http://www.waterforum.org/CSCGWF/CSCGMP_FINAL_02_27_06.pdf

Lower American River Task Force

The Lower American River Task Force is a multi-stakeholder collaborative group sponsored by the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency and the Water Forum. The Task Force developed the consensus-based River Corridor Management Plan (RCMP) for the Lower American River, formally endorsed in January, 2002 by representatives of approximately 40 federal, state, and local agencies and partnerships, environmental groups, commercial fishing groups, recreation groups, and community groups. The plan focuses on:

• Protecting and enhancing fisheries and in-stream habitat;
• Protecting and enhancing vegetation and wildlife habitat;
• Improving the reliability of the existing flood control system; and
• Enhancing the Lower American River 's wild and scenic recreation values.

The Center managed the RCMP process and facilitated several working groups. The Center continues to co-facilitate the Task Force, which now monitors implementation of the RCMP. The Task Force also serves as a venue for project proponents to vet plans that impact the Lower American River and for stakeholders to receive information related to the Lower American River . For more information, see the LAR Task Force website, http://www.safca.org/collaboration/LARTF.html

Initial Fisheries and In-Stream Habitat Management and Restoration Plan for the Lower American River (or “FISH Plan”)

The FISH Plan was developed by the Lower American River Task Force's Fisheries and In-Stream Habitat Working Group (“FISH Group,”) facilitated by the Center in parallel with the development of the River Corridor Management Plan (see the Lower American River Task Force). The FISH Plan identifies the management and restoration actions that are most important to undertake to improve conditions for priority fish species (fall-run chinook salmon, steelhead, and splittail) in the Lower American River. The FISH Plan was completed in October, 2001 and endorsed by approximately 20 federal, state, local agencies and partnerships, environmental groups, commercial fishing groups, and recreation groups. The Center continues to provide advisory and facilitation services to the FISH Group as it implements its plan. The FISH Plan is available online at http://www.waterforum.org/WEBFIS/FISHPL.HTM

California Water Boards Public Involvement Assessment, Training, and Staff Manual

The Center provided research, consulting, and training services as part of a three-phase project to assess and improve public participation at the California Water Boards, which are composed of a central State Water Resources Control Board and nine regional boards. The California Water Boards oversee water rights and water quality for the state of California. the Center was part of a project team that also included the University of California, Davis Extension and MIG, Inc.

In the first phase, the Center, with support from UC Davis Extension, conducted an assessment of public participation procedures for the California Water Boards. The Center interviewed Water Boards staff and stakeholders and observed diverse types of public participation efforts and outreach materials in all nine regions of the state. To reach a broader audience, the Center designed and analyzed the results of online surveys made available to Water Boards staff and stakeholders. The final assessment report can be found online at http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/water_boards_needs_assessment.stm

The results and recommendations of the assessment are being used by the Water Boards to update and standardize their public involvement procedures throughout the state. As one outcome of this project, the Water Boards have recently advertised an executive position to lead their new public participation program. The website of the new program can be viewed at http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/participation/index.html

In phase two of the project, the Center, UC Davis Extension, and MIG, Inc., developed and delivered a series of one-day public participation trainings for Water Boards’ staff, based on the findings of the needs assessment. Approximately 650 staff from all over California (nearly two-thirds of the Water Boards’ total staff) attended one of twelve training sessions.

In the third phase, the project team is building upon the assessment and training efforts to create an all-staff manual to clarify public participation law and policy and to continue building skills for a variety of public participation needs.

California Bay-Delta Authority Project (CALFED)

A collaborative effort involving 23 state and federal agencies, over 2,000 private stakeholders, and the general public, created to address the challenges to efficient resource management posed by the San Francisco Bay-Delta’s multi-jurisdictional management context. The CALFED agencies have developed a single comprehensive plan, now in the implementation phase, that aims to restore the ecological health and improve water management of the San Francisco Bay-Delta waters. The program encompasses about 70% of California and includes the largest ecosystem restoration program in the United States. The Center has provided facilitation and strategic planning services to this unprecedented statewide collaborative effort since 1995. For more information, visit http://calwater.ca.gov/

Sacramento Transportation and Air Quality Collaborative

A multi-stakeholder collaborative effort initiated in 2001 to address transportation and air quality issues in the Sacramento region. The collaborative is sponsored by eight Sacramento public agencies and facilitated by the Center. The purpose of the collaborative is to coordinate a long-range and comprehensive strategy to improve transportation and air quality within a regional context, including relevant land use and economic vitality strategies, through the use of an interest-based negotiation and visioning process. The collaborative includes broad representation from business, community, environmental, government, neighborhood and social advocacy organizations. Over 100 community leaders, along with their alternates, participate in the collaborative. For more information, visit the Center's expanded page or the collaborative’s official website at www.sactaqc.org

Attorney General’s Task Force on Domestic Violence

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer convened the Task Force on Local Criminal Justice Response to Domestic Violence in December 2003 to study the effectiveness of how local criminal justice agencies respond to and deal with domestic violence. The policies and practices of the numerous enforcement agencies vary widely among California's 58 counties. The Task Force focused its investigation on 10 target counties, interviewing hundreds of practitioners and holding 6 public hearings to examine how well local criminal justice agencies respond to and deal with domestic violence issues. The Task Force was composed of 26 members from across the state, and included judges, attorneys, probation officers, law enforcement officials, medical practitioners, victims' advocates, and service providers. The Task Force addressed four key questions:

• Restraining Orders: How are they obtained and enforced?
• Prosecutor's Offices: How do they handle domestic violence cases, given that most are misdemeanors?
• Batterer Intervention Programs: How do these programs, along with courts and probation departments, hold batterers accountable?
• Health Practitioner Reporting: How does law enforcement respond when they receive reports of suspected domestic violence from health care practitioners?

The Center provided facilitation and strategic mediation services to assist the Task Force to reach consensus in identifying promising current practices and proposing recommendations for uniform standards and future action. In addition, the Center provided writing and editing support for the production of the Task Force's report.

In July 2005, the Task Force released its report, called Keeping the Promise: Victim Safety and Batterer Accountability. The report found that the state's criminal justice system is failing to enforce California's domestic violence laws and made 44 specific recommendations to improve law enforcement, interagency cooperation, accountability for batterers, and the capacity of justice system to address domestic violence.

For further information on the Task Force and to download its report, please go to http://www.safestate.org/domesticviolence

For a summary of the Task Force findings, access the July 26, 2005 press release.

Integrated Storage Investigations Conjunctive Use Program

A coordinated effort sponsored by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to assist local communities in California’s many geographic water basins build consensus on the design and implementation of conjunctive use water management projects. (Basins are geographic regions defined by natural water flow features, cutting across multiple political jurisdictions. Conjunctive use projects coordinate the use of surface water and groundwater to enhance the ability of a basin to meet its water needs in times of low surface water flow). The Center provides strategic consultation, coordination, and communication assistance between the Department of Water Resources and diverse local and regional interests within each basin. Center facilitators also provide direct assistance at the local level, guiding the work of stakeholder consensus-building processes in five basins around the state. For more information, visit http://www.groundwater.water.ca.gov/cwm/conjuse/index.cfm

Lahontan Water District/Truckee River Sediment Collaborative

A collaborative effort between the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Board and stakeholders in the upper Truckee River watershed. The Center facilitates this community-based process whose goal is to agree upon standards for sediment TMDLs (Total Maximum Daily Loads) in the watershed and implement strategies to improve water quality in the watershed.

For more information and documentation on the Truckee River Sediment TMDL and the Truckee River TMDL Collaborative Project, visit the following links:

Truckee River Sediment TMDL Website: http://www.waterboards.ca.gov/lahontan/TMDL/Truckee/Truckee_Index.htm

TMDLs and NPS Challenges: The Truckee River Basin as a Case Study (Speaker presentation from the California Nonpoint Source Conference, Fall 2003):
http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/docs/conference2003/03gayledana.PDF

California Water Plan Update

Get the latest on this project at: http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/enews

The Center worked with the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) to design and implement a highly transparent, stakeholder consensus process for California 's strategic water “master plan.” Called the California Water Plan, it makes projections about California 's future water demand and recommends actions to meet the state's future water needs. Some pioneering features of the Center's work included:

• Leveraging DWR's technical knowledge and expertise with community-based input and feedback into a full collaborative process and policy recommendations
  
  
• Utilization of a 65-member public advisory committee consisting of statewide stakeholders drawn from state, federal, and local government agencies; tribal governments; local water interests; agricultural interests; the environmental community; the academic community; business and industry; and the general public
  
  
• Creation of a 350-member extended review forum to allow for broad public input and transparency
  
  
• Design of multiple planning scenarios and planning assumptions crafted by stakeholders
  
  
• Creation of broad based consensus policy recommendations that have spanned and been sustained by two Governors of different political parties

The success of the California Water Plan collaborative process has attracted attention in the fields of conflict resolution and public administration. The Water Plan process is the subject of a Master's thesis in progress at the UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy, and DWR has entered the Water Plan as a case study in the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution's Multi-Agency Evaluation Study (MAES). For his achievements as DWR's program manager of the Water Plan, Kamyar Guivetchi was presented with the 2005 Intergovernmental Cooperation Award by the American Society of Public Administration (ASPA) Sacramento Chapter.

The Final Water Plan Update 2005 Report was released on January 31, 2006. For more information visit the Water Plan Update website at www.waterplan.water.ca.gov

Water Plan Update 2009 is currently underway with an even more extensive stakeholder involvement process that features an unprecedented degree of regional and tribal outreach and State agency coordination. The Water Plan project team provides weekly updates to keep stakeholders informed on rapid developments related to the project. For regular updates regarding the California Water Plan Update 2009, please visit http://www.waterplan.water.ca.gov/enews/

Off-Highway Vehicle (OHV) Advisory Committee

Ongoing consensus-based advisory committee to the California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR)’s Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Program. Since 2001, the Center has assisted the Department of Parks and Recreation with the design, planning, and facilitation of the Advisory Committee. The Advisory Committee has gone beyond its original mandate of creating an optimum OHV program for the Department; it has reached consensus on two pieces of legislation related to OHV use for the California State Legislature (one of which is now law, and one of which is making its way through the Legislature) and is at work on a third piece of legislation. The Committee has furthermore given DPR consensus-based guidelines for several programs, including the design and commissioning of a fuel-tax study related to OHV use, and the redesign of DPR’s multi-million dollar grant program for the management of OHV recreation. Products of the Committee have the potential to help create national standards in at least two areas:

• Sound standards related to the noise generated by OHVs, with implications for nationwide OHV manufacturing; and
• Soil standards related to OHV impact on terrain.

The approximately 60 Advisory Committee members include environmentalists, non-motorized recreationists, OHV users, law enforcement, private property owners, local and state government representatives, and representatives of the OHV manufacturing industry.

For more information, visit the Department of Parks and Recreation’s OHV Program website at www.OHV.parks.ca.gov

An Independent Analysis of the project by John Forester of Cornell University is available at http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/practicestories/documents/samples_planning/
ArtOfConsensusBuilding.pdf

A copy of an additional independent case study prepared by the USDA Forest Service National OHV Implementation Team and the U. S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution may be found at
http://www.fs.fed.us/recreation/programs/ohv/CaseStudyReport.pdf

California Floodplain Management Task Force

This project was a six-month multi-stakeholder collaborative process to develop consensus recommendations for the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the Governor to improve statewide floodplain management policies. The approximately 50 Task Force members represented state and federal agencies; local governments and water districts; farming interests; environmental organizations; tribal interests; and business and development interests. The Center provided an initial assessment, strategic planning and facilitation for the Task Force. The Task Force Report recently received the 2004 Association of State Floodplain Managers (ASFPM) Tom Lee State Award. For more information, visit the Task Force website at http://fpmtaskforce.water.ca.gov/

Sacramento River Corridor Floodway Planning Forum

A collaborative effort convened by the California Reclamation Board, Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA), the cities of Sacramento and West Sacramento and the counties of Sacramento, Sutter and Yuba, with the cooperation of the Department of Water Resources and the US Army Corps of Engineers. The Forum brings together diverse interests to achieve greater coordination between the various users and stewards of a critical reach of the Sacramento River. The Center provides planning, facilitation, and mediation services to help the Forum members achieve the following purposes:

• Achieve greater certainty and predictability in the permitting process for encroachments in the river through broadly accepted decision criteria;
• Provide an informal setting for discussion of proposed encroachments in the floodway;
• Create better understanding of the existing flood control system and its capability to withstand the stress of existing and potential new encroachments;
• Explore opportunities for enhancing flood control system functionality;
• Improve transparency, communication and coordination of the permitting process;
• Expand opportunities for riparian habitat restoration and enhancement in permitting encroachments.

Forum members include representatives of local governments and agencies; state and federal agencies; business and commercial development associations; environmental organizations; neighborhood and community associations; and recreation and bicycle transportation interests. The final product of the Forum will be a Floodway Management Plan that includes guidelines for riverfront development, habitat conservation, levee maintenance and public access.

For more information, see the Forum's website: www.safca.org/collaboration/SRPF.html

California Indian Heritage Center Outreach

The California Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) retained the Center to provide training and support in community outreach to two Native American trainees charged with gathering input from the State's diverse Native American communities and other interests during site selection and master planning for a major new California Indian Heritage Center (CIHC). Working throughout the state, the trainees have created an effective community network and database, made presentations explaining the CIHC to varied constituencies and worked closely with a Native American Task Force created under state legislation to resolve complex issues regarding location and functions of the proposed Heritage Center.

For more information, see the CIHC website: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=22628

American River Parkway Plan Update

The 5,000-acre American River Parkway is a natural preserve and recreation facility regarded as a jewel of the Sacramento metropolitan area. Five agencies jointly funded an update of the 1985 Parkway Plan and retained the Center to undertake a stakeholder assessment and process design to ensure that the Update is focused and inclusive. The goal of the Update was to develop consensus recommendations for an improved Parkway Plan for adoption by Sacramento County, the cities of Sacramento and Rancho Cordova, and the California Legislature. The process included an opportunity for integrated planning of a 1200-acre riparian area near the confluence of the Sacramento and American rivers in the metropolitan core and for detailed consideration of a large area contiguous to the City of Rancho Cordova.

In addition to completing the assessment and design phases, the Center became the primary facilitator for the 2.5-year Update process. A broadly representative Update Citizens Advisory Committee worked with numerous agencies to seek consensus on an updated Parkway Plan. A consensus draft plan was achieved in June 2006. The document was approved for environmental review by the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors in January 2007. It is expected to be ready for final adoption by the local jurisdictions in 2008. Following adoption through local ordinances, the updated American River Parkway Plan will be presented to the California Legislature for enactment into state law.

In 2007, the American River Parkway was recognized by the Sacramento Valley section of the American Planning Association (APA) with its 2007 Outstanding Planning Award for Focused Issue Planning. The awards jury noted the effectiveness of the plan’s outreach and committee consensus process in recognizing the planning process for this important award.

More information about the Parkway Plan Update is located at
http://www.planning.saccounty.net/american-river-parkway/

Evaluation of California Dialogue on End of Life Issues

A professional evaluation of the process used and outcomes achieved by RESOLVE, Inc. while conducting a multi-stakeholder dialogue for the California Assembly's Select Committee on Palliative Care between November, 2001 and March, 2002. The purpose of the dialogue was to provide a single text report and consensus recommendations to the Select Committee on Palliative Care with regard to physician-assisted suicide / physician aid in dying. The Center developed and applied an evaluation tool tailored to the project in order to:

• Assist RESOLVE in improving the project design and techniques at various intervals;
• Provide a third-party assessment of the project's results as compared to its goals; and
• Identify unanticipated project outcomes of beneficial use to the public.

The final Evaluation Report is available for download on the Center's Publications web page at http://www.csus.edu/ccp/publications/EOL_Evaluation_abstract.stm

Pilot Negotiated Rulemaking Process for Metal Finishing

A multi-stakeholder consensus-based negotiated rulemaking process initiated in February 2002 by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The Center provided planning, facilitation, and mediation services to the project. The success of the project was evident when the AQMD Board unanimously adopted new measures to further reduce toxic emissions from the region's metal plating facilities - with total support from concerned members of the public and industry. Deeply interested parties representing local regulatory agencies, industry, environmental organizations and community groups designed detailed provisions that met everyone's interest and improved public health and safety. To read more about this ground-breaking accord, visit http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/2003/bs5_02_03.html.

Stanislaus Recreation Stakeholders

The Stanislaus Recreation Stakeholders (SRS) is a widely diverse, independent community group seeking to enhance the quality of recreation opportunities in the Stanislaus National Forest. Focused on both motorized and non-motorized recreational issues, the primary goal of SRS is to minimize conflict between different forms of recreation and minimize the impact of all types of recreation on the environment. Recommendations by the group will be submitted to the Forest Supervisor or other entities as appropriate. The Forest Supervisor is committed to considering SRS recommendations

Starting in December 2002, the Center initially facilitated a small design team that then invited 150+ diverse recreation, homeowner and environmental stakeholder representatives to a full day working session. After the large group shared concerns and defined issues, it voted to proceed with a formal collaborative process. The SRS group was formed in 2003 as an outcome of this process. The Center now facilitates the SRS. For more information about the SRS, visit www.csus.edu/ccp/jun14.

Lake Tahoe Restoration Project

CCP assists the agencies managing and restoring Lake Tahoe’s resources with a new effort designed to protect the lake for future generations. Called "Pathway 2007," it is a cooperative endeavor by the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency (TRPA), the U.S. Forest Service and environmental regulators from Nevada and California, who hope to coordinate long-term development and ecological strategies affecting the lake and those who live or visit there.

CCP provides facilitation, public outreach and strategic advice for the Basin collaborative effort. The collaborative will utilize structured stakeholder processes in setting Lake Tahoe Basin public policy. CCP assists P7 in achieving a series of goals. These include goal alignment among different Basin agencies, integration of a cohesive set of supported, usable planning instruments, enhancement of interagency trust along and full understanding of agency missions, and coordination of effective public participation.

More about P7 cat be found at the Center's expanded web page or the "Pathway 2007" official website at www.pathway2007.org.