There are many aspects of a water quality project where pre-project monitoring can improve project success, and where project evaluation monitoring can enhance the success of future projects. An example of a pre-project monitoring program is the sampling of project soil properties prior to specification of a revegetation plan. Without a pre-project soil analysis, revegetation efforts may not be successful. In addition to pre-project monitoring for design purposes, project evaluation or performance monitoring is essential to allow managers to use adaptive management strategies, which result in improved performance of future projects. Information provided to RAM members indicates that projects that do not include design related monitoring tasks are likely to fail.
Water quality is likely to suffer.
The purpose of this letter is to begin a dialogue which explores the need to shift limited resources within a given project budget to monitor for project performance. The RAM believes that pre-project monitoring and project evaluation monitoring is a fiscally responsible means of managing project dollars. A small portion of the project's budget could be moved to cover the cost of project-specific monitoring tasks. In some cases, certain project elements may have to be eliminated to cover the monitoring costs, or the project scale reduced. On a performance basis, however, those projects that include relevant monitoring tasks and responses to monitoring are likely to perform at a superior level that moves us closer to threshold attainment at a quicker rate.