Description: The Focal Areas are meant to sub-divide our region in a way that combines geography, ecology, land use and jurisdictional boundaries. Although watersheds at some HUC level (sub-watersheds or drainage areas) make for a tempting approach, the flow of water across a landscape is not the only meaningful way to define commonalities, differences among and between regions, and to set priorities that are sensible for that particular geography. In some cases Metro properties that are very close together geographically and share conservation targets are in different sub-watersheds. In other cases, city jurisdictions cross sub-watershed boundaries. Some sub-watershed may have areas that are primarily urban and others that are primarily rural. Finally, most sub-watershed boundaries extend well outside our reasonable geographic area of focus.
Copyright Text: Jonathan Soll and System Plan Core Team