Texas Watch encourages groups to set broad watershed goals, rather than limited goals that focus on particular problems. Watershed goals help groups attract multiple partners, including organizations with basinwide responsibilities, such as river authorities. In forming a partnership network, Texas Watch begins with those individuals and entities most committed to volunteer monitoring and works with this core group to establish preliminary watershed goals. The core group then approaches other potential partners. It is helpful to approach public entities, such as federal, state, or local agencies, early in the organizing process because public entities can help legitimize the project from the start, creating an attractive environment for recruiting new partners.
Public entities can also provide technical expertise.
The core group works with the public entities to refine the preliminary goals and clarify environmental information needs. Determining which of these needs the public can fill is an important step in getting a public entity to support volunteer monitoring. An example of a Donor Partner is an industry that purchases kits for monitors. Patron Partners contribute in-kind services such as trainers or lab services and are required to sustain these services for a minimum of two years. An example of a Patron Partner is a city that commits to analyze samples for fecal coliforms for two years.