BUILDING STRONG SM Plan Formulation: General Module G-1: What is plan formulation?

BUILDING STRONG SM Student Learning Objectives Student will be able to:  Define plan formulation  Place plan formulation in the six-step planning process  Define steps of plan formulation  Define plan formulation strategies

BUILDING STRONG SM Who has Expertise in Plan Formulation?  Little  Fair  Good  Excellent

BUILDING STRONG SM What is Plan Formulation?

BUILDING STRONG SM Plan Formulation is defined as: The process by which plans are created

BUILDING STRONG SM Let’s Start Thinking About Plan Formulation and Introduce Ourselves  Have you had some plan formulation experience?  Take one minute, introduce yourself and give us an example of a “formulation” problem/success you have experienced

BUILDING STRONG SM Principles and Guidelines (P&G)  Economic and Environmental Principles and Guidelines for Water and Related Land Resources Implementation Studies  Approved by President Ronald Reagan in 1983  Better known as the “Principles and Guidelines” or “P&G”  ER provides implementation guidance

BUILDING STRONG SM 6-Step Planning Process 1.Specify Problems & Opportunities 2.Inventory & Forecast Conditions 3.Formulate Alternative Plans 4.Evaluate Effects of Alternative Plans 5.Compare Alternative Plans 6.Selection Recommended Plan

BUILDING STRONG SM  Problems: negative  Opportunities: positive  Without a clear statement of the problems or the opportunities, there is no reason for planning Step 1 Specify Problems and Opportunities

BUILDING STRONG SM  Objectives are what you are working towards  Objective = do good  Constraint = don’t do, can’t do  Objectives and constraints indicate what is important to people Step 1 Specify Problems and Opportunities

BUILDING STRONG SM  Much data can be collected  Not all data provides important information  A good without condition is essential to a good decision  Inventory and forecast must be meaningful to the decision that is made Step 2 Inventory and Forecast

BUILDING STRONG SM  Doing nothing is always the default action  Any plan must be better than doing nothing  Management Measures - feature or activity at a site  Alternative Plan - one or more management measures  Alternative plans must address one or more of the planning objectives Step 3 Formulate Alternative Plans

BUILDING STRONG SM  Looking at a plan on its own merits  Forecast with project conditions  Compare with and without conditions  Describe effects  Benefit-Cost or other analysis Step 4 Evaluation

BUILDING STRONG SM  Contrasting the merits among plans  Comparing effects  Describe differences  Describe trade-offs Step 5 Comparison

BUILDING STRONG SM  Early iterations of the planning steps involve screening  Decision makers can disagree on what is most important  Different selection criteria will lead to different decisions  Planners are advisors and not necessarily decision makers  In the end, you may not get your way... Step 6 Selection

BUILDING STRONG SM

T he Corps uses the term “Formulation” in different ways:  Broadly: What “formulators” do – Use of authorities, report preparation, consensus building, leading the team through the 6-step process, etc.  Leading the study team through the 6-step planning process  Specifically: Planning Manual definition  The process of building alternative plans from management measures is called plan formulation.  Step 3 of the planning process

BUILDING STRONG SM Specific Definition of Formulation Plan Formulation as the third step in the planning process  Problems, opportunities, objectives and constraints have been determined - at least for the time being  Information exists that gives physical and perhaps monetary dimensions to the problems  Some inventory has been completed  Most important, the without condition is defined  Evaluations and comparisons are yet to come

BUILDING STRONG SM Specific Definitions of Plan Formulation  Formulation is the creation of plans before we know the with-plan conditions  It is the bridge between the “without” and the “with conditions”  It starts with no plan and ends with several unevaluated plans

BUILDING STRONG SM Planning Steps and Plan Formulation Planning Objectives & Constraints Alternative Plans Management Measures Problems and Opportunities Inventory and Forecast Plan Formulation Evaluation Comparison Selection Reformulation

Combining Measures into Plans There must be more than just dumb luck, awkwardness or conniving

BUILDING STRONG SM There must be more than just dumb luck, awkwardness or conniving Combining Measures into Plans

BUILDING STRONG SM What is a Formulation Strategy?  Strategy to provide a plan that meets the local sponsor’s and public’s needs?  Strategy to develop an array of alternative plans?  Strategy to develop a specific alternative from management measures

BUILDING STRONG SM What is a Formulation Strategy?  A systematic way of combining measures into plans based upon selected criteria  It may include a statement of measures that will not be pursued and why  …more to come

BUILDING STRONG SM What is a Formulation Strategy?  We are going to discuss formulation strategies a lot, so lets be sure we maintain our focus:  Basic formulation strategy is to attain the planning objectives & meet the planning constraints  Alternative strategies reflect what is important to the stakeholders

BUILDING STRONG SM Formulation Strategies - Inspiration  Institutional  Laws, policies, regional plans and other institutional realities  Federal, state and local  Technical  Science based  Public  Issues important to stakeholders  Local objectives and constraints

BUILDING STRONG SM Formulation Strategies - How  All possible combinations  Start small and add increments  Start large and eliminate increments  Start with the most cost-effective  Inter-dependencies of measures  Sponsor supplied alternative  Others as appropriate

BUILDING STRONG SM Formulation Strategies  A strategy is formed by combining the inspiration and the how.  The strategy becomes the recipe or instructions for formulating a plan.  During future iterations of the planning steps the strategy may become more precise.

BUILDING STRONG SM Cost - Sharing Impact on Strategies  The planner’s goal is to develop the best plans irrespective of cost-sharing.  Local sponsors and the Federal Government will try to include consideration of cost-sharing issues in the planning process. These issues will occur so they need to be built into plan formulation strategies.

BUILDING STRONG SM Concept of Formulation Strategies Is the concept of strategies to ensure that:  A wide enough array of alternatives is developed?  The array of alternatives is limited to those that can be effectively evaluated?  The array of alternatives focuses on issues important to the decision makers and stakeholders?

BUILDING STRONG SM Formulation of Plans is an Art  It is doubtful that any two formulators will do it the exact same way, or even come up with exactly the same answer  No single approach is sure to “work” every time  Nevertheless,  Formulation is based on facts  Formulation allows different values to impact on the final array of plans  Formulation focuses on rational process/systematic approach

BUILDING STRONG SM Take Away Points  Plan formulation is the art of creating plans to address objectives and constraints and a skill that you acquire  Plan formulation is an integral part of the six- step planning process and is a hallmark of the Corps  Plan formulation is an iterative process  Formulation strategies highlight the what and how to build plans from measures

BUILDING STRONG SM Where We are Going  Next, we’ll cover some fundamentals, policies and definitions  Then we’ll discuss the central question of this course: How do I come up with management measures and alternative plans to be considered?

BUILDING STRONG SM When is plan formulation successful? Challenge Question: