July 15 & 16, 2004

Cocoa Beach, Florida

Retreat Outcomes

The goal of the Florida’s Water Quality Monitoring Council Retreat is to foster collaboration, communication and cooperation among the water quality monitoring community, thereby facilitating improved efficiency and management of Florida's water resources. The retreat will strive to accomplish this goal by…

Encouraging diverse stakeholder interaction and input;
Visualizing an ideal water monitoring community;

Identifying issues that can be better addressed cooperatively; and

Agreeing on the process and committing to proceed.

The Florida Water Monitoring Retreat was a HUGE success, engaging at least 80 people from fifty different organizations in two-days of facilitated workshop exercises that initiated the formation of the…

Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council

This page provides an assembly of the materials distributed and discussion notes collected during the facilitated exercises at the retreat.

Agenda Packages

Agenda – Two day agenda
Attendees – List of people who attended the two-day event
Working Draft Charter – Example of a Council Charter drafted from the language used by other state councils. Meant simply as a “straw man” for disassembly and reassembly by the Florida water monitoring community.
NWQMC Framework – The National Water Quality Monitoring Council schematic of communication, cooperation, and collaboration.
State and Regional Council Table – Spreadsheet comparing other state and regional councils
EPA Document Evaluating State and Regional Councils – 24 page assessment of council activities, successes and challenges.
Acknowledgements – List of planning committee members and facilitators.

PowerPoint Presentations

– Opening may take several minutes

Maryland Water Monitoring Council – Bob Shedlock, USGS , Co-Chair, Maryland Water Monitoring Council. Provides an overview and success stories from the oldest established state council.
The Successes and Challenges of Volunteer Monitoring – Linda Green, University of Rhode Island, Chair of the NWQMC Collaboration and Outreach Committee. Provides a thorough description of the role of volunteer monitoring in the national scheme of water quality monitoring
Retreat Welcome and Goals – Leesa Souto, Director of Public Education Programs at Stormwater Management Academy and Chair of the Retreat planning Committee presents the general objectives of the retreat and planning committee names.
The Ocean Conservancy Panel Presentation – Seba Sheavly, Director of Pollution Prevention and Monitoring presents an overview of why The Ocean Conservancy is supporting this important effort.

Retreat Exercises Instructions – Explanations of the facilitated group exercises

Map Exercise Instructions

North map
Central map
South map

Visioning Exercise/Monitoring Challenges Exercise

Asset Mapping Exercise

Workshop Outcomes – Summarized notes and easel pad highlights

Vision Exercise Summary – “In a perfect world, what would water monitoring in Florida look like? Summary of the index cards posted by participants that explained their vision of an ideal water monitoring community in Florida.
Monitoring Challenges Group Outcomes – Summary of easle pads with notes from each of eight groups.
Monitoring Challenges Priority – List of prioritized challenges as indicated by group selection process.
Projects – Provides the group summary and prioritized list of projects that can address the challenges faced by the monitoring community while striving to reach the vision of a perfect water monitoring community.
Asset Mapping Exercise Summary Outcomes – Provides the outcomes of small group lists of resources/assets that each individual/organization could contribute to the project and how the individual/organization would benefit from the project in return.
Committees – List of Committees and committee members that elected to move forward with projects for the Florida Water Resources Monitoring Council

Sponsor Links

UCF Stormwater Management Academy
The Ocean Conservancy
FDEP
US EPA