Nevada Irrigation District

The Nevada Irrigation District (NID) had prioritized public input in the development of its Raw Water Master Plan Update. Having started down a rigorous public engagement path in 2018, NID listened to concerns from some constituencies and its Board of Directors about its first public engagement effort and pivoted toward a more strategic and thoughtful approach to develop a public outreach process that best meets the needs of the community and NID in terms of intensity, scheduling, and cost.  As part of NID’s efforts to redesign its public process for the Raw Water Master Plan Update, Raftelis and our partner Katz & Associates (K&A) were asked to provide an overview of the elements that make up a comprehensive and successful public outreach process.

What followed was the development of a comprehensive public outreach process that included the following components:

1. Thorough description of the decision to be made
2. Determination of who needs to be involved in the decision making and at what level (i.e., who are the deciders, planners, advisors, reviewers, and observers; and what each role entails)
3. Description of the level of public and the promise made to the public
4. Core values for the public involvement process that can be used when decisions need to be made during implementation
5. Specific techniques and applications that align with the American Water Works Association (AWWA) M50 Water Resources Planning Manual best practices and International Association of Public Participation (IAP2) core principles
6. Anticipated timeline
7. Staff and materials resource needs8. Anticipated budget requirements