Water Star Community Program Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What if someone else is doing this action so we don't feel we need to do it?

A1. You can claim the points if two things are true:

1. You have an agreement with the entity to perform the work. This can be a formal agreement with a contract or Memorandum of Understanding or informal such as participating on a steering committee; and
2. Municipal funds or tax payer dollars are used to support the function.

• Example 1. The county does your land use planning or provides construction erosion inspection and enforcement. You have an agreement that the work is to be done and your citizens are funding it, either through county property taxes or through a contract with your municipality.
• Example 2. Work done for you by a regional planning entity could also be claimed.
• Example 3. Work done by a local non-profit on a project with you providing assistance and possibly funds, since this can vary so much we have addressed this more specifically in question 5. Since Water Star Community honors the municipality for the actual work they are doing, you cannot claim actions done by businesses, community groups or others unless you are providing assistance or resources to them. In the future we hope to expand Water Star to honor groups and businesses as well.

Q2. Why are some really critical actions given so few points?

A2. Points are based on effort, resources and commitment by the municipality over time. Therefore even if something is critical, if it is easy to do and once done doesn't take any more resources it would only receive one or two points. Each action is also given a priority, either Critical, Important or Enhancement to indicate how it relates to direct improvement or protection of the resource.

Q3. How do we know if we should be claiming the points?

A3. We have tried to give guidelines in the answer set to help you determine whether you should claim the points or not. In general if it is a repetitive type action and you only do it rarely, that is not considered actually 'doing' the activity. To award yourself points the activity must be one that is either been completed and is an ongoing part of municipal policy and procedures or it is done on a reasonably regular basis. This fluctuates depending on the activity. For example if you hold training for your staff every year or two years that would be considered regular. If you did it once three years ago and don't have a schedule for retraining, then no points should be claimed.

Q4 What if we are doing work towards an action, but not exactly as you describe it in your answer sets?

A4. You should claim the points that you feel best reflects the amount of resources, effort and commitment that you have made towards that action step. There is no way we can cover all possible options, and we do want you to be able to take credit for the good work you are doing. We do appreciate receiving comments about different choices we should include in order to improve the program.

Q5. What do you mean by promote, sponsor or lead?

A5. To promote is to advertise and encourage a water conservation activity that is funded and logistically supported by others. To sponsor is to provide funding, in kind donations or staff time in support of a water conservation activity organized primarily by others. To lead is to provide significant funding for and lead the coordination of a water conservation activity.

Q6. How do you know if a municipality is actually accomplishing what it says it is doing?

A6. The exact procedure is still being developed. We appreciate any suggestions you might give us. One thing we will do is send a notification of the application status to regional DNR staff to check that the municipality does not have a history of significant permit violations or is currently in non-compliance. Providing there are no negative replies, municipalities applying for Bronze and Silver Water Star levels will automatically receive that designation. An application for Gold Water Star will need to go through a verification process. While that is still being developed, it most likely will include randomly selecting about 10% of the actions and asking for specific documentation that those actions are being accomplished.

Q7. What if the municipality is generally doing really good things, but has done a couple of really bad actions?

A7. We are very sensitive to the fact that we want any municipality designated as a Water Star to be 'shining examples' for others. Hopefully if something truly negative has, or is occurring, it will be caught as part of the check on meeting permit requirements. Virtually all municipalities will have taken some actions over time that are negative to water quality or that people would have preferred a different option. I.e. vegetated swales and rain gardens instead of rock lined channels. We did discuss adding actions that would take points away, but the purpose of Water Star is to acknowledge the good things municipalities are doing. We feel by getting municipalities who are doing good work into Water Star, we can guide and inspire them to do great work in the future. Individuals can express concern about a Water Star Community using the comment section of the website, but at this time that would not change the Water Star designation unless truly significant. We do reserve the right to repeal a communities Water Star designation.

Q8. What if we are doing something not included in the current survey?

A8. At the end of each section you will be given the opportunity to add actions and assign them a point value. These will be added to your application, but the Water Star Coordinator will need to confirm that inclusion as part of the certification process. Annually all of these actions will be evaluated for inclusion in the next year's survey.

Q9. What if we don't immediately complete the survey, how long will it be in the system?

A9. You will be able to go in and complete the survey up until the point where the survey is significantly changed. At this time we expect to annually close the survey down in January for updates. We will retain your original incomplete survey and will be able to send it to you upon request.

Q10. What if we complete the survey and want to go back and add to it?

A10. Once your status has been confirmed and you have received your Water Star designation and held your designation ceremony, your survey will be archived and not immediately accessible. You will be able to reactivate it by sending us an email, up until a new version of the survey is activated, which is likely to happen annually in January. After that time we can still email you a copy of your completed survey but you will need to complete a new application and full survey.

Q 11. I've finished the survey and when I print the whole thing out there are questions I didn't see when I went back into the survey.

A11. When you completed your community profile, Water Star used those answers to customize your survey, removing those question which were not applicable to your situation. If you find that Water Star eliminated questions that are applicable to you, please send us the section and question so we can fix the problem.