Initial Stakeholder Meeting #2

Just over a month after the kick-off meeting for the One Truckee River initiative, core stakeholders met again for round two. On June 23, 2015, those involved gathered once again at the Community Foundation of Western Nevada to further discuss vision and future of the Truckee River.National Park Service representative Barbara Rice began by asking the other 22 reps for any comments or changes on the ground rules, roles of partners, and core values of the One Truckee River plan. No changes were made.From there, environmental steward Alex Hoeft, who works with Nevada Land Trust, Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful and National Park Service, introduced the communications strategy for One Truckee River. Alex went through the short-, medium- and long-term goals for communications, including social media, blog posts, website creation and maintenance, surveys, videos and future funding.After the communications strategy was introduced, Alex showed the participants around the website, followed by social media (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram).Once the communications portion of One Truckee River was finished up, Barbara took over again to have all members divide up into three groups for a Truckee River issue identification.Stakeholders broke up into three groups and assessed Truckee River opportunities and threats and identified key issues that will need to be addressed in the management plan. The input and reflection will be considered as the group prepares final goals for this planning effort, which will be addressed in preparation of a scope of work for the Truckee River Management Plan.A quick summary of each group's threats and opportunities involving the Truckee.Group One:

• Threats: restrooms (safety and illicit activities); storage for personal property; drought and climate change; maintenance responsibilities and lack of coordination; lack of funding; invasive species; social issues; crime; littering; public safety; water quality; beavers
• Opportunities: restrooms; river as economic resource; more livable communities/quality of life; increased local use; increased tourism; funding opportunities; increased special events; increased collaboration and coordination; increased education and public outreach; adopt-a-river; increased access; vendors/concessions; increased public safety; increased recreation; overflow shelters and education

Group Two:

• Threats: maintenance; population growth; communication/coordination; funding; oversight/authority; storm drains; trash; homelessness; fires; oversight and authority
• Opportunities: education; ownership/volunteer; easier waste disposal; recreation

Group Three: 

• Threats: clarity and understanding previous planning efforts; safety in and along river; lack of access points; impacts of recreation (trash, erosion, lack of facilities); public awareness (why should I care?); impacts to locals/business owners/river users; urban run-off; homelessness; perception of One Truckee River group as “exclusive”; wildlife conflicts and impact (beavers, raccoons as threats); flooding; oversight and authority; drought/rising water temps
• Opportunities: community ownership; volunteer opportunities; OTR inclusivity; fly fishing, birding, bats, etc.; youth component; tourism/recreation; long-term sustainable funding; highlighting art and culture/history; river ranger program; community and education events; break down jurisdictional boundaries; safety; bringing together agencies to collaborate; new opportunity for awareness

From these threats and opportunities, Barbara then led the groups in identifying key issues to focus on in the initiative. The issues are still being fine-tuned, but include public health, water quality and sustainable funding. A full list will be posted soon.The spotlight then fell on Nevada Land Trust's Lynda Nelson to discuss future planning. Lynda discussed with the group the September forum, a potential contractor, and the day and time of the next meeting.The meeting ended at 1:28 p.m.