Growing the T-Stan

Moving from working in silos to collaboration is not an easy or quick process. It takes time, dedication, guidance, common purpose, and much effort and perseverance. For the T-Stan, efforts first began in 2007. Over the course of time, additional entities became involved and a few left, but for most all of those currently engaged, their representatives have changed over time.

At a JPA Board meeting in late 2016, it was observed that many of the current participants had little knowledge about the origins of the T-Stan and how it evolved. Board members also observed that for newer representatives, they likely did not understand the relationship between the Tuolumne County Resource Conservation District and the Tuolumne-Stanislaus Integrated Regional Water Management Authority (T-Stan IRWMA), what grants have been received over time, how day-to-day efforts are financed, and the many reasons why collaboration and coordination through the IRWMA is so valuable.

So in January of 2017, ten years after the beginnings of what eventually became the T-Stan IRWMA, the members shared information about the birth and growth of the T-Stan IRWMA. During this joint workshop of the JPA Board and the Watershed Advisory Committee members and staff also shared the multiple benefits of this integrated approach to include grant funding, but also looking beyond the dollar. The group also spent time looking forward to where they would like to be in another ten years. Some of the presentations and observations are available below: