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PWSR Toolkit Home > Designate > Designation Implementation
What are the PWSR Designation Stories?
Current Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers
Visit each river's webpage for more information.
- Eightmile River Wild and Scenic Watershed (CT)
- Farmington River (CT)
- Great Egg Harbor (NJ)
- Lamprey River (NH)
- Lower Delaware River (NJ/PA)
- Lower Farmington River and Salmon Brook (CT)
- Maurice River (NJ)
- Musconetcong River (NJ)
- Nashua, Squannacook, and Nissitissit Rivers (MA/NH)
- Sudbury, Assabet and Concord Rivers (MA)
- Taunton River (MA)
- Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers (VT)
- White Clay Creek (DE/PA)
- Wekiva River (FL)
- Westfield River (MA)
- Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed (CT/RI)
- York River (ME) - under study
PWSR webpages, maps and information may be found here:
PWSR Designation Stories Page
Learn about the origins of each PWSR. This page is coming soon!
These videos were created for the 50th anniversary of Wild and Scenic Rivers.
WSR YouTube Playlist
This playlist is coming soon and will showcase videos about PWSRs.
How does the designation get implemented?
Once a river is federally designated as part of the Wild and Scenic River System, a local, post-designation Management Council will be established to facilitate the work set forth in the Comprehensive River Management Plan (CRMP). This Council often looks much like the Study Committee and will likely include some of the same members. Official appointees are chosen as communities see fit, often appointed by the municipalities in the designated area. The Council also includes partnerships with interested organizations and citizens who choose to attend (in much the same way that the Study Committee was established).
The Management Council will use the Comprehensive River Management Plan written during the Study as a road map following designation, and work toward goals and recommendations included in the Plan with the help of the National Park Service. Once formed, members will choose to adopt bylaws specifying how to govern itself including election of officers and decision making. Some examples of bylaws from the post-designation can be seen from the Sudbury-Assabet-Concord River Stewardship Council and the Taunton River Stewardship Council.
The goal of the post-designation Management Council would be to use this Management Plan as a framework to encourage local, state and federal planning to take the Outstandingly Remarkable Values identified in this Management Plan into consideration, and make decisions which protect the resources of designated rivers. They would also administer any Wild and Scenic funds allocated to the designated rivers, and assist in any Section 7 Reviews (of only those projects with full or partial federal funding or permitting, construction and development and related to water resources with a potential adverse effect on the rivers). The Council will not have a regulatory role but will have a formal advisory role related to the Wild and Scenic River designation and the National Park Service, and may also advise and assist landowners, local communities, State agency partners, and others.
One of the most important roles of the post-designation Management Council is to serve as a communication and coordination body bringing together municipalities and key partners on a regular and ongoing basis to promote good decision-making regarding the rivers. With open, consistent meetings and activities providing a regular and reliable forum for discussion, research, and consensus building around river matters, the Council will support good river management.
The Council may utilize funding support received through the National Park Service to undertake projects directly or, most likely, in partnership with one or more local partners. It is anticipated that similar activities that occurred during the Study will occur if after designation occurs, including education and outreach, and that the recommendations and opportunities for action discussed in the Management Plan design the road map for future Wild and Scenic activities. An example of the role of the Taunton River post-designation Wild and Scenic Committee.
The National Park Service provides advisory and technical assistance to the post-designation Management Council. The NPS is charged with administering the Wild and Scenic designation, assisting in implementing the Management Plan with the Management Council, and reviewing projects which fall under the protection of Section 7 of the Wild and Scenic Act. The NPS will help protect the ORVs from federally funded or permitted “water resource development projects” which could have a “direct and adverse impact” upon the ORVs which made the river eligible for designation.
The post-designation Management Council would be expected to carry out regular review and updates to the Management Plan. Study Committees can recommend a timeline for this review and updating of the Management Plan, which typically occur every five years post-designation due to the constantly changing nature of the regulations, technology, plans, and community goals within the area. Since Management Plans are the recommended actions for river management, how they are to be revised is often included in the plan itself. Commonly, if the post-designation Management Council proposes a major or significant revision to the Management Plan a full review process may occur, such as that prior to the adoption of the Management Plan with a public review and comment period on the draft followed by adoption by the locally appointed Wild and Scenic Management Council.
Topics in the Designate Section
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