watershed planning and management

8/8/2019 Watershed Planning and Management

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Water

is one of our most valuable resources to humans. Every living

organism requires water in some form. As such, water regulates

population growth, influences health and living conditions, and

determines biodiversity. The presence or absence of water is

critical to determining the uses to which land can be put.


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Watershed

A watershed refers to an area that drains

into the same body of water. Watersheds

capture precipitation, filter and store water, and

determine its release. It is an integrated

system, with actions in one part of a watershedoften impacting the whole watershed; as such,

it is the most appropriate unit for water

management and related ecological values.

Is the geographic area where all water runningoff the land drains to a given stream, river,

lake, wetland or coastal water.


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Watershed management

seeks to ensure the wise and effective use of water resources,and in particular the quantity and quality of water released. Over

the years watershed advocates have developed and advocated for

watershed management based upon sustainable watershed

management principles and the underlying concept of integrated

watershed management. Sustainable watershed managementprinciples include:

Integrated resource management by linking water quality and

quantity and the management of other resources, recognizing

hydrological, ecological, social and institutional systems, and

recognizing the importance of watershed and aquifer boundaries.Water conservation and the protection of water quality by

recognizing the value and limits of water resources, the cost of

providing water, acknowledging both consumptive and non-

consumptive values, and balancing education, market forces and

regulatory systems.


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What is Watershed Planning?

Planning means many different things to different people. Very generally,planning attempts to apply reason to solve a specific problem and identify

steps that can be taken to reach a specific goal.

Watershed Planning

is a process for local constituents to identify and assess their natural

resource concerns and opportunities, determine the condition that meets

their needs, and formulate alternatives to achieve their goals based upon

voluntary, incentive-driven opportunities. Together, local citizens are

working to develop a locally-led, voluntary and incentive-based watershedmanagement plan to improve water quality while preserving the economic

sustainability of agriculture, recreation, wildlife, and municipalities.


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As individuals, we make plans all the time. However, when

dealing with complicated social, environmental or economic

problems, the steps that will be followed in developing a planare often more formal, and will usually include some or all of

the following activities:

Involve key decision makers and partners Who should be

on-side to make the plan work?

Identify or define the problem to be solved by the plan If a

problem is defined too narrowly, you may overlook innovative

solutions.

Model or analyze the situation/problem It is important tounderstand the causes of the problem, as well as dynamics

which might help solve it.


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Determine potential solutions, examining resource requirements,

implementation, feedback procedures, etc.

Evaluate potential solutions in terms of technical feasibility, cost

effectiveness, probable effects, political acceptability, etc.

Make a decision.

Implement the decision.

Evaluate the success of the plan and its implementation. Modify

the plan as required.


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A Planning Process allows people to decide how, as a group,to move from an unacceptable present to a desirable future.

Planning, however, is not an end product. It is an on-going,dynamic process that must be responsive and adaptive to changing

conditions, and the current social attitude or community vision.

Watershed Planning, then, is planning for the good management of

watersheds. It provides a means by which decisions are coordinated

among responsible government and private agencies and by whichland use and resource management conflicts and issues are

resolved. As such, watershed planning is a combination of scientific

and technical information with cultural and societal values. It requires

detailed information about the particular

watershed components and processesand other information.Yet, there is no exact definition of a watershed approach to

planning, rather it is a social construct agreed to by people living in

that watershed. Each example of watershed planning will look quite

different, and it is crucial that watershed advocates be involved to

push for sustainable watershed management.
http://www.bcwatersheds.org/issues/water/bcgwlp/d1-1.shtmlhttp://www.bcwatersheds.org/issues/water/bcgwlp/d1-1.shtml


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What is a Watershed?

Generally, a watershed is described as an area within a

hydrographic or river basin which consists of interconnected water

sources and drainages, bounded by topographic highs or water

divides.

For watershed planning and management purposes, awatershed is an area with specified boundaries set by a group of

stakeholders who have interests in the water resources within the

watershed.


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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 inthe 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 toproblems through the use of the expertise and authority of multiple

agencies and organizations; and measuring success through

monitoring and other data gathering.


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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 thestate level, such as the operation of a statewide permit program.


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watershed planning and management

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