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title: "Making a Planning Area Active"
canonical: "https://docs.rubiconwater.com/space/NWNC/2000978569/Making%20a%20Planning%20Area%20Active"
format: markdown
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> Macro (toc)

For a planning area to be *Active*, it must have an authority for the role PLANNERS and the party ALL PARTIES, or it must be included in a Planning Group that has been marked as *Plannable*.

> ℹ️ **Note**
> ℹ️ 
> ℹ️ Active planning areas cannot overlap. If you try to set an overlapping area active, DMS will not allow you to proceed.

1. Log in to DMS as a System Administrator (or with some other role that has authority to change the status of a planning area).
2. Click  Planning Areas to open the Planning Areas module.
3. Select the planning area that you want to set active.
4. Open the Authorities tab and click **Insert** to insert an authority.
5. Enter the following details:
  - **Role**: PLANNER
  - **Party**: ALL PARTIES
6. Click **Save** to save your changes. DMS will check to make sure that the area does not overlap with any other active areas.

If you have a lot of planning areas, it may be easier to group them in planning groups. You can set the planning areas active by setting their parent group active. See the <u>[Planning Groups Module](https://rubiconwater.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/NWNC/pages/2000978631)</u> for details.

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