Watershed Planning and Management
Contacts
LakeSmart
Materials and Reports
NPS Control Program
NPS Pollution
NPS Priority Watersheds List
Stream Team Program
Related pages: stormwater program; sustainable water use program; training center.
Introduction. A watershed is the geographic area where all water running off the land drains to a given stream, river, lake, wetland or coastal water.
Watershed planning and management comprise an approach to protecting water quality and quantity that focuses on a whole watershed. This is a departure from the traditional approach of managing individual wastewater discharges, and is necessary due to the nature of polluted runoff, which in most watersheds is the biggest contributor to water pollution. Polluted runoff is caused by a variety of land use activities, including development, transportation, agriculture and forestry, and may originate anywhere in the watershed. Due to its diffuse nature, polluted runoff has not been effectively managed through regulatory programs alone.
Watershed planning and management involve a number of activities, including: targeting priority problems in a watershed; promoting a high level of involvement by interested and affected parties; developing solutions to problems through the use of the expertise and authority of multiple agencies and organizations; and measuring success through monitoring and other data gathering. Watershed management activities may take place at the state, river basin, or individual watershed level. Many issues are best addressed at the individual watershed level. For example, identifying sources of pollution that are carried by stormwater to a lake is best carried out by people working within that lake watershed. Other issues are more appropriate at the basin level, such as determining appropriate discharge limits for wastewater licenses within the basin. Still others may best be operated at the state level, such as the operation of a statewide permit program. More on DEP's role.
Related links: Maine conservation districts (off-site)
