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Effective Date: 3/15/71

Series: Public Lands

Part 605: Watershed Protection Program

Chapter 4: Development of Watershed Work Plans

Originating Office: Bureau of Land Management

4.1 Scope. A watershed work plan is the official document which describes the watershed and its problems; sets forth the proposed remedial measures and the cost of supplying them; measures the benefits; and shows the division of costs and other responsibilities among participating agencies; and outlines the schedule of operations. Certain policies and procedures determine the preparation, review, approval, and execution of work plans involving the Department.

4.2 Benefits. The Act provides for Federal participation in the installation of works of improvement only after it has been determined that the benefits exceed the costs. The Department of Agriculture policy requires a favorable ratio of primary benefits to costs for all structural measures or groups of measures for which the Federal Government shares in cost of installation.

4.3 Interior Recommendations. Works of improvement recommended by the Secretary of the Interior with the advice of the bureaus for lands under his jurisdiction shall be shown as integral parts of the work plans.

4.4 Installation, Operation and Maintenance. Arrangements for construction, operation, and maintenance of works of improvements on Interior lands shall be mutually satisfactory to the Secretaries of the Interior and Agriculture.

4.5 Bureau Work Priority. When lands which have a low work priority in the normal rehabilitation program of the bureau are embraced in a watershed which is approved for planning assistance, the bureau shall take reasonable steps to adjust its program so that the watershed protection program may be developed in an orderly manner, provided the protection program is of high priority based on criteria in the Act.

4.6 Notification of Areas to be Planned. When a watershed has been approved for receiving planning assistance:

A. The Secretary of Agriculture notifies the Secretary of the Interior in writing at the same time that the State and local organizations are notified.

B. The Secretary of the Interior, represented by the Assistant Secretary for Water and Power Resources, furnishes this information to the central offices of all bureaus.

C. The State Conservationist of the Soil Conservation Service notifies, in writing, the appropriate field offices of Interior bureaus and invites their assistance and cooperation in the development of the watershed work plan.

D. All bureaus keep the State Conservationist advised of the name and address of the appropriate bureau official to be contacted.

4.7 Bureau Action in Planning. When so notified, the bureau:

A. Ascertains the amount and condition of the lands in the watershed under its jurisdiction.

B. Evaluates the effect of the proposed plan on other bureau programs.

C. Assesses the need for works of improvement.

D. Determines water requirements for the conservation of fish and wildlife.

E. Determines the manner of installing, operating, and maintaining the measures to be applied.

F. Submits to the State Conservationist the measures required for the bureau lands and indicates those which it recommends for inclusion as an integral part of the work plan.

G. Is kept advised, at the Washington level, of planning recommendations by its local offices.

4.8 Qualifying Measures. The Department of Agriculture is responsible for determining what measures qualify for inclusion in the work plan in accordance with established criteria.

A. Those measures to be installed on lands under the jurisdiction of each bureau will be clearly identified in the work plan.

B. Bureaus must recognize that many measures considered necessary for the improvement and protection of Interior land under established bureau criteria may not qualify for inclusion in the work plan.

4.9 Field Review. The State Conservationist of the Soil Conservation Service submits the proposed work plan to the appropriate field representative of the bureau for review prior to its submission to Washington. The draft of the work plan will not be forwarded to the Administrator of the Soil Conservation Service until it is satisfactory to the sponsoring local organization, the State Conservationist, and representatives of the public land administering agencies.

4.10 Secretarial Review. When work plans have been agreed upon by the local organization and the Secretary of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior is provided with copies for review as follows:

A. The Secretary is allowed 30 days as provided in the Act for review of those work plans submitted to Congress for approval; namely, when the estimated Federal contribution for construction costs is in excess of $250,000, or the plan contains any structure which provides more than 2,500 acre-feet of total capacity.

B. When Interior lands or Reclamation projects are involved in work plans which the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to approve, the Secretary will be furnished copies of such work plans for review and comment at least ten days prior to their approval.

4.11 Bureau Review. The bureaus are supplied copies of work plans received by the Department and are responsible for submitting their comments to the Secretary as notified.

4.12 Coordination. The Assistant Secretary for Water and Power Resources is responsible for obtaining and coordinating the views and recommendations of the interested bureaus and offices of the Department, and in preparing the report submitted to the Secretary of Agriculture.

4.13 Submission to Congress. The Secretary of Agriculture may not submit to Congress any plan requiring congressional approval prior to the expiration of 30 days from the date such plan was received for review by the Secretary of the Interior.

4.14 Approval by the Department of Agriculture. Copies of draft work plans as referred to in Chapter 13 of the Watershed Protection Handbook of the Soil Conservation Service, which the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to approve, are submitted informally to Field Offices of the Department of the Interior for review and comment when Interior lands or Reclamation works are involved. The comments of the bureaus involved are submitted to the Assistant Secretary for Water and Power Resources for consolidation and transmission informally to the Department of Agriculture. Representatives of all Federal and State agencies that have evidenced an interest in the watershed will be invited to participate in the informal field review. It is important that agreement be reached at this stage with each participating agency concerning the portions of the plan in which they will be involved. If it develops in the informal field review that the impact on agency activities or plans is sufficient to warrant additional time for review, a limited time will be allowed for this purpose. In accordance with Section 2(e) of Executive Order 10584, final plans, approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, will be subject to arrangements mutually satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior for the construction, operation, and maintenance of works of improvement on lands or Reclamation works under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior.

4.15 Notice of Plans Approved. Copies of work plans when approved by the Secretary of Agriculture will be furnished for each Interior bureau involved. The Secretary of Agriculture will notify, in writing, the Secretary of the Interior, of the approval of each work plan by the Congress.

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3/15/71 #3496

Replaces 3/15/71 #1272