Watershed Planning: A Key to Integrated Planning

1. Watershed Planning:AKey to Integrated Planning FHWA Environmental Conference Ann Campbell Wetlands Division

2. Watershed Planning • “Watershed Planning 101” • EPA Watershed Programs • Core Water Programs • Estuaries and Specially Targeted Watersheds • State progress in watershed planning • What they are doing • How they are doing it • Locating watershed information

3. Watershed Planning 101 • A watershed is the area of land that drains to a common body of water like a lake, river, wetland, or estuary • Water quality and quantity reflect the uses of the water and physio-geographic characteristics in its watershed; therefore managing watersheds is both a people process (political) and multi- disciplinary scientific and technical challenge • Watershed Planning - planning to improve and maintain water resources in an area of land making up a watershed drainage area

4. Watershed Planning 101 • Involves leadership at all levels of government: • Cities – protect their drinking water • Statefish, game, and forest managers - maintain habitat for key species and help maintain water quality • Citizen watershed groups – protect and improve water quality for recreation and other uses • Conservation Districts and localgovernment – ensure adequate flows for agricultural and water quality for drinking and recreation • State, regional, and federalWQ agencies –protect water resources, reduce pollution levels, and implement TMDLs

5. Watershed Planning 101:Remaining Water Quality Challenges • Despite tremendous progress in tackling point sources since the 1972 Clean Water Act, many waterbodies are still not safe for swimming, fishing and drinking • Nonpoint source (NPS) pollution is the leading cause of impairment; 40% of Nation’s assessed rivers and streams do not meet basic uses such as fishing or swimming due in large part to NPS pollution • Human activities on the land—construction, agriculture, highways, lawns and gardens, etc.—impair water quality. • Problems demand a more comprehensive approach that looks at all stressors within hydrologically-defined boundaries

6. Watershed Planning 101Water Quality Impairment Examples: • California: 30,000 miles of impaired rivers and streams. • Leading cause of impairment: pesticides • Idaho: 31,000 miles of impaired rivers and streams. • Leading cause of impairment: sediment/siltation

7. Watershed Planning 101 • EPA’s Watershed Approach: • Hydrologically-focused • Involves all stakeholders • Strategically addresses priority water resource goals • EPA’s Role is primarily: • Providing a focus on water quality (chemical, physical, and biological integrity) using regulatory and voluntary tools of the Clean Water Act • Facilitating dialogue and discussion between states and local organizations (the on-the-ground watershed managers) and other federal agencies • Providing technical assistance and funding

8. Watershed Planning 101 • EPA promotes watershed planning – to find comprehensive and lasting solutions to water quality problems • Maintain public involvement and local leadership • To address nonpoint source (land based) pollution and coordinate point sources management • Protect drinking water • Restore impaired waters • To integrate various environmental data, monitoring, technical expertise, and funding • Find economical solutions (optimize control strategies, including potential trading opportunities)

9. Other EPA Initiatives Using a Watershed Approach • Other OW Initiatives • Watershed TMDLs • NPDES Watershed-permits • Phase II Stormwater Management • Combined Sewer Overflow planning • Mitigating wetlands losses in a watershed context • Promote a rotating basin approach • Encourage water quality trading on a watershed scale • Targeted Watersheds Grant Program

10. Why Should You Consider Watersheds? • Better environmental results • Saving time and money • Greater public support • Streamlining • Simplifying wetlands permitting • Greater flexibility

11. State Progress in Watershed Planning • Each state is unique, however, all states: • Collect water monitoring data and share it with EPA • Report the status of TMDL development to EPA Regions and the information goes into a national TMDL data base • Report on the status of Nonpoint Source watershed projects, including loadings of sediment, nutrients, and restored habitat • EPA Regions and states are tracking progress of watershed restoration and impaired water clean-up to meet GPRA Strategic Plan goals and objectives

12. State Progress in Watershed Planning • Progress is good and diverse • Some states have rotating basin programs for organizing monitoring and/or plan development, • OH, NC • Some states have strong bio-monitoring programs • MT, OH, MD • Some states are including Low Impact Development principles in watershed management • OR, WA, MD, WI • Some states have strong technical modeling capacity • PA, LA, WI • Some states have state-organized planning councils • ID, WA, MA

13. Community Watershed Efforts: Tools for Watershed Practitioners • Best Management Practices (BMPs) • Technical guides and databases for best water quality protection practices • Computer models to assist water quality management • Water quality databases and assessment tools • GIS-based tools • Modeling alternative land use practices

14. Working draft is being reviewed

15. Locating Watershed Information • Although several EPA water programs have planning components and funding opportunities, developing and adopting a watershed plan remains challenging • Information on various water programs (e.g. data, tools, etc.) is difficult for S/T/L users to find in one place • Currently, persons interested in obtaining more information on existing watershed plans or features of the watershed itself must piece the information together

16. Watershed Plan Builder

17. Watershed Plan Builder • Designed with you in mind • The application incorporates existing services and will incorporate future services as they are developed. • Using Enviromapper Geo-Services RADIMAGE and RADFEATURE. • Providing query string to National TMDL Tracking System • Providing query string to STORET. • Providing query string to Water Quality Standards. • Future: Incorporate additional Enviromapper and Envirofacts services to provide additional data and information.

18. Healthy Watersheds Support Healthy Communities