Planning Efforts:
 The proposal for a plan for the Clinton Lake Watershed (CLW) was initially conceived in 2000. Several years passed before the DeWitt County Soil and Water Conservation District obtained funding from the Association of Illinois Soil and Water Conservation Districts (AISWCD) and Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) to develop a plan for the watershed; the execution date was March 29, 2005.
 
The following goals were set forth for the Clinton Lake Watershed Management Plan (CLWMP):
1. The CLWMP will outline information necessary for the maintenance and improvement of natural, social, and cultural resources.
2. The CLWMP will assess and review existing environmental conditions and conservation practices within the watershed.
3. The CLWMP will provide baseline information for future projects in the CLW.

These primary goals have either been achieved or are in process of implementation. The plan is dynamic which means it is ever-changing, active, growing, and energetic. This process requires Adaptive Management.

Adaptive management (AM), also known as adaptive resource management (ARM), is a structured, iterative process of optimal decision making in the face of uncertainty, with an aim to reducing uncertainty over time via system monitoring. In this way, decision making simultaneously maximizes one or more resource objectives and, either passively or actively, accrues information needed to improve future management. AM is often characterized as "learning by doing." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_management)