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<br />00104'4 <br />It's the Right <br />Thing to Do! <br />(continued) <br /> <br />and commitment to help us move forward. And, as we continue to improve the <br />environment in our state, we need your voices to tell the story around our state and in <br />your communities in anaccurate and fair manner. Yes, point out the progress that our <br />state.is making with water and environmental issues - but remember the issues we <br />still need to deal with, and to talk about with our friends and neighbors. <br /> <br />We must be willing to do that and face up to the reality of where we are. The Kansas <br />Water Plan maps the road we must take. I fully support the Water Plan, and the <br />necessary improvements in state laws and regulations that can be justified by sound <br />science to improve the environment in our state. I'm going to continue to support water <br />resources as a significant part of Kansans' quality of life. Many people in this state <br />enjoy the great outdoors, and water is a big part of that experience. <br /> <br />You are the leaders who will make our Kansas Water Plan work - not because some <br />bureaucrat tells you to, but because you know it's the f;ight thing to do. And you're <br />willing to do it, and assume the responsibility for leading your friends in voluntarily <br />protecting our environment. I believe that as you sha(e with each other and with all <br />Kansans the critical importance of water to us all, you will put us on the right road to a <br />brighter future for our children and for our state. " <br /> <br />This was the challenge I issued November 16, 1999, to the nearly 200 participants in the Gover- <br />nor's Forum on Water Quality Protection in Wichita, Kansas. I charged them to develop <br />recommendations for protecting the quality of the waters in our state. This Forum was the first <br />attempt any state has made to develop an action plan called <br />for by the National Forum on Nonpoint Source Pollution. <br /> <br />Our Kansas Forum followed the same structure as the <br />National Forum, assigning participants to three <br />professionally facilitated work groups comprised of very <br />divergent interests and subject to only one rule: no <br />finger-pointing. Each work group worked intensely during <br />the entire Forum, sometimes as a full group, sometimes in <br />smaller units. Themes from the National Forum came up <br />time and again in their deliberations: <br /> <br />. Watersheds as a framework for action <br /> <br />. Prevention of pollution rather than more expensive <br />dean-up <br />. Commitment over the long haul <br /> <br />. Leadership to make the right partnerships happen. <br /> <br />Although our time frame was much shoner - two days <br />compared to a year for the National Forum - our work <br />groups succeeded in overcoming their often disparate views <br />to come up with 14 specific recommendations for improv- <br />ing and protecting our state waters., Two overriding issues <br />link the 14 recommendations - the need to increase local <br />awareness and the need for local leadership and suppon. <br /> <br />I am confident that our Water Quality Initiative agencies <br />will make these issues key factors in the plan they are now <br />developing that will summa~ize current activities related to <br />each bf the recommendations and identify actions to <br />implement the recommendations. I also believe that those <br />who participated in our Forum accomplished the one goal <br />of the Forum that will make their recommendations <br /> <br /> <br />2 <br /> <br />NONPOINTSOURCE NEWS-NOTES <br /> <br />MARCH 2OOO,ISSUE'60 <br />