Guiding Principles

1. Manage the water’s resources for economic sustainability, quality of life, and protection of private and public property rights.

2. Acknowledge and respect the watershed’s natural processes in land use decisions.

3. Maintain or improve the quality of the water to support a variety of beneficial uses.

4. Protect the headwaters region as the system’s principal water source.

5. Recognize and respect the interests of all stakeholders upstream and downstream by fostering collaborative and mutual respectful relationships.

6. Maintain the riverine and alluvial fan floodplains of the Carson River Watershed to accommodate flood events.

7. Protect and manage uplands, mountain ranges, wetlands, and riparian areas to enhance the quality of surface flow, groundwater recharge, and wildlife habitat.

8. Promote conservation of water from all sectors of the community’s water users for the benefit of municipal, industrial, agricultural, domestic, recreational, and natural resources.

9. Encourage management of growth that considers water quality and quantity, open space preservation, and maintenance of agriculture in floodplains.

10. Protect and support opportunities for public recreational access to natural areas throughout the watershed – including the river corridor – where appropriate.

11. Promote understanding and awareness of watershed resources and issues through cooperative education efforts throughout the watershed.