2017-18 CivicSpark Water Pre-Service Capacity Assessment

You have been asked to complete this survey because you are listed as a local beneficiary for a 2017-18 CivicSpark Water Project.

As a Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program, CivicSpark Water has clear performance measures and goals. To better understand your community and agency goals, and ensure they align with CivicSpark Water, we require each agency or department participating in the program to complete the following capacity assessment survey.

We will require a similar survey at the close of the CivicSpark Water service year to assess impacts of fellows’ work and evaluate our ability to achieve your goals. Note: Individual responses will not be shared outside of CivicSpark staff. In aggregate, responses to this survey are used to determine overall impacts of the program and will be shared as appropriate for program reporting and outcome dissemination.

1. Respondent Information

2. Eligibility Information

All local public agencies (or in some cases, departments within an agency), participating in CivicSpark Water must provide the following information in order to confirm program eligibility and determine a level of need. To be eligible, you must answer “no” to at least one of the following questions. A “no” response illustrates a lack of existing capacity, and thus a need for capacity-building services.

3. Current Agency/Departmental Capacity and Project Goals

The following section requests information about the project; your specific goals for the project; your perspective on agency/department capacity; and support for action related to sustainable water management.

Project Title and Goals

For each of the four categories below, please list at least 1 capacity building goal you would like to see accomplished by the end of the CivicSpark Water project. Be as specific as possible. When defining these goals, please identify realistic goals you hope CivicSpark Water Fellows will accomplish during their 11 month service term, rather than aspirational goals or desired outcomes of the broader initiative. Fellows will refer to these survey results when setting their project goals and scope of work for the service year.

Name or brief description of the CivicSpark Water project for which you are completing this survey.

Water Program Capacity and Barriers to Action

The following questions are intended to gauge how equipped you feel your agency/department is to address the issues and objectives associated with the CivicSpark Water project. Please answer each question genuinely. This information will NOT be shared outside of the CivicSpark Water team; it will only be used for pre- and post- assessment comparisons to determine impacts of the CivicSpark Water program.

Please respond to the following questions on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being 'completely disagree' and 5 being 'completely agree'), in regard to the water management issue(s) addressed by the project.

4. General Water Knowledge and Understanding

The following questions are designed to gain a sense of your agency's knowledge and understanding of statewide policies in the water-sector, current staff training on integrated watershed approaches, and local Understanding of Community Water Challenges. Please answer each question genuinely. This information will NOT be shared outside of the CivicSpark Water team; it will only be used for pre- and post- assessment comparisons to determine impacts of the CivicSpark Water program.

Policy Awareness

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being not at all familiar, 5 being expert knowledge), please rank your familiarity with the following state policy mechanisms and programs relevant to integrated water resource management in your community.

Training

On a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being no training, and 5 being extensive training), please rank the extent of training you/ your staff have received on the following topics:

Local Understanding of Community Water Challenges

To better gauge knowledge of water management challenges among local government staff, please rank on a scale of 1 to 5 your level of understanding on the following topics (1 being ‘little understanding’ and 5 being ‘deep understanding’).

5. Volunteer Engagement

All CivicSpark Water Fellows will support increased volunteer engagement by establishing new volunteer programs or enhancing existing programs related to regional water management. To support fellows in their volunteer engagement efforts, please briefly describe any existing volunteer services your agency/department utilizes.

Thank you for completing the Pre-Service Capacity Assessment for your CivicSpark: Water project. Once you submit this form, the CivicSpark: Water team will review your Assessment for completeness, and contact you if we have any questions or follow-ups regarding your capacity assessment goals and outcomes. We so look forward to working with you, and helping to build your capacity to achieve your water sustainability goals!

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