Over the next few months, we will be using tools and methods used for watershed planning in other parts of the world that have not been widely adopted in the Unites States. We hope that our experiences here will not only lead to better water quality for the Little River, but also help develop ways that people in other communities can help improve their environment.

Hasn’t there already been a lot of planning in Blount County? What makes this process different?

This process will be very different from what you may have experienced in the past. Conventional planning processes are expert driven. Experts in various fields make decisions about the future, then hold public meetings to get a response to their ideas.

Increasingly, planners are adopting stakeholder driven processes. Stakeholders, people who live and work in the community, make the decisions and help develop recommendations for the future. Experts still play an important role in the planning process. They offer advice and describe alternative solutions, but residents ultimately make the decisions which characterize the final plan.

Stakeholder driven processes are also known as participatory processes, because they call on ordinary citizens to actively participate in the decision making process. Over the past several years, Blount County has been a leader in the development of public participation. Many recent local plans, including the 2003 Water Quality Plan, used extensive public input to develop recommendations for the county’s future. Little River, Big Future is an effort to build on these experiences and get residents even more involved in planning for the protection and preservation of the watershed.