Healthy Lakes and Rivers Partnerships (HLRP) Program

Sixteen Stearns County groups have participated in The Healthy Lakes and Rivers Partnerships (HLRP) program. The Program empowers local shoreline associations to improve the quality of their lakes or rivers by helping them:

• Enhance the leadership skills of key lake/river association members.
• Provide a forum for shoreline property owners to plan for the future of their watershed.
• Obtain opportunities to network, work cooperatively, learn from one other, and advocate for healthy waters in central Minnesota
• Create visions, missions, goals, and management plans for their watershed using a template developed by the Healthy Lakes program and modeled after the State Interagency Lakes Coordinating Committee guide.
• Establish indicators to measure the success of their association's efforts.
• Receive training, technical assistance and support for citizen-based planning and project implementation.

Training and Participation
Through the HLRP program, citizen leaders are given the tools needed to assist them in developing and implementing their own lake or river management plans. Over two training sessions, participating advocacy groups learn how to develop a locally shared vision and plan, how to set measurable goals, and how to report on their progress and outcomes.

Because of the relationships established in the common training that each group receives, they are able to contact one another and share practical experiences on sources of assistance or funding, situations or "solutions" to avoid, and sources of further guidance at regulatory agencies or academic institutions.

The most common outcome that communities have chosen to pursue is an inventory of current wastewater treatment practices or needs, establishment of low-interest septic upgrade funds, or evaluation of alternative community wastewater treatment options. Other common activities include fisheries habitat improvements, demonstrations on lakeshore landscaping to enhance water quality, active involvement in the revision of local government comprehensive plans and ordinances, management of invasive aquatic plants, and ongoing involvement in local planning and zoning review processes.

To get involved in the Healthy Lakes and Rivers Partnerships Program contact: