Regional
planning
efforts
have
become
increasingly
prevalent
in
resource
management
initiatives,
particularly
in
water
conservation
planning.
This
report
informs
the
development
of
a
water
conservation
plan
for
the
Roaring
Fork
Conservancy,
Ruedi
Water
and
Power
Authority,
and
the
Community
Office
of
Resource
Efficiency
in
Colorado’s
Roaring
Fork
Watershed.
Six
cases
of
regional
water
conservation
planning
strategies
across
the
Western
United
States
are
examined.
The
case
studies
provide
insights
and
lessons
learned
about
collaborative
planning,
the
Colorado
Water
Conservation
Board
planning
process,
and
regional
plans
with
water
conservation
strategies
focused
on
increasing
instream
flows. Several
recommendations
are
offered
for
those
seeking
to
develop
a
regional
water
conservation
plan.
The
planning
process
should
be
open
and
transparent,
to
encourage
various
stakeholders
to
participate.
The
roles
and
responsibilities
of
plan
participants
should
be
established
clearly
and
equitably.
A
plan
should
be
flexible
enough
to
accommodate
different
interests
and
needs,
while
maintaining
a
unifying
mechanism
or
vision
to
sustain
regional
collaboration.
Plan
developers
should
maintain
outreach
to
critical
stakeholder
groups
and
partner
with
them
on
plan
development
and
implementation.
Establishing
a
dedicated
regional
staff
member
to
coordinate
and
manage
plan
implementation
is
important,
as
is
establishing
a
dedicated
funding
source
for
plan
development
and
implementation.
Plan
champions
should
be
cultivated,
and
implementation
incentivized.
An
overview
of
education
and
outreach
campaign
strategies
that
could
be
employed
by
the
clients
as
part
of
a
regional
water
conservation
outreach
campaign
is
provided.
Emphasis
is
placed
on
strategies
directed
at
changing
individual
water
conservation
behaviors.
An
analysis
of
ecological
and
hydrologic
conditions
on
the
Lower
Crystal
River
that
could
motivate
compliance
with
a
regional
water
conservation
plan
is
also
provided.
While
the
report
was
conducted
for
clients
in
Colorado’s
Roaring
Fork
Watershed,
many
of
the
lessons
and
themes
should
be
of
interest
to
others
involved
in
regional
water
conservation
planning.