This report was published in August 2000. The assessment report and watershed rankings reflect data compiled during the watershed management cycle to date (1997-2000). Data assessments are those of the Report to Congress for the year 2000 and reflect data collected by state agencies during 1998-1999. Volunteer data are for sampling during spring and summer 1999. Other datasets are the most current available, compiled for various periods of time.

The Kentucky Watershed Management Framework is a means to protect human health and the health of the watershed ecosystems on which we depend. Objectives of the framework include enhancing cooperation between government agencies, developing stronger partnerships of state and local governments and other groups, and encouraging citizen participation in watershed management. This report plays a pivotal role in the watershed process.

In brief, state agencies achieve greater efficiency and maximize the effectiveness of limited resources by organizing monitoring activities by river basin and by focusing their work on one basin each year (Assessment). Meanwhile, the Basin Coordinator and Basin Team compile data and obtain input from stakeholders--citizens, local government, companies, and other organizations--to promote local decision-making and long-term planning. 

The Basin Team encourages local stakeholder groups to form Watershed Task Forces. Organizing these local planning groups around natural units of flow--the watershed--allows a comprehensive approach so that the solution to one problem does not create other problems. This report is one of the principal way that information compiled at the state and basin levels during is provided to local Watershed Task Forces for use in planning. The Basin Team also provides technical support for plan development and implementation as needed.

Under the watershed framework, state agencies focus data collection, in turn, on the Kentucky River Basin and four other watershed management units over the course of a repeated five-year, five-phase cycle. The timetable for Kentucky River Basin activities runs from July 1 to June 30, as follows:

Information about the basin gathered in Phase 1 is published in a Basin Status Report and is used to develop a monitoring strategy. During Phase 2, agencies execute the monitoring plan and analyze the data collected. In Phase 3, the Basin Team and the Basin Coordinator compile an Assessment Report from information on individual watersheds. The Basin Team then uses the Assessment Report and input from local stakeholders to designate targeted watersheds. In each targeted watershed, a local Watershed Task Force assembles a Watershed Action Plan to address problems (Phase 4), and then begins to implement the plan in Phase 5.

See the More Information page for technical details about the stream assessment and watershed ranking processes. Reports from previous phases of the process in the Kentucky River Basin include the Kentucky River Basin Status Report and the Kentucky River Basin 1998-1999 Monitoring Strategy. The Kentucky Watershed Management Framework Document outlines the vision for this process in greater detail. (See the Kentucky Watershed Management website for information on other basin management units in the state.)

Disclaimer. Information presented in this report was collected from many sources. Reasonable attempts were made to ensure that information and figures are accurate, but no representation or guarantee is made as to the correctness or suitability of information for particular purposes. All critical information should be independently verified. Questions or corrections should be directed to the administrator of this site or linked sites. Some sites to which these materials provide links for the convenience of users are not managed by the University of Kentucky. The University does not review, control, or take responsibility for the contents of those sites.