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Watershed Management
Watershed management is a strategy for integrating and managing resources.
The goal of the state’s Watershed
Management Initiative (WMI) is to integrate water quality monitoring, assessment,
planning, standards, permit writing, nonpoint source management, ground water
protection, and other programs at the State and Regional Water Boards to promote
a more coordinated and efficient use of personnel and fiscal resources while
ensuring maximum water quality protection benefits. The State’s watershed
work integrates and supports, to the extent possible, local community watershed
protection efforts to implement cost-effective strategies for natural resource
protection. As characteristics and resources vary widely from watershed to
watershed, this approach customizes efforts to manage resources and address
problems unique to each watershed while offering stakeholders the opportunity
to implement the cost-effective solutions to problems in their watersheds.
Watershed management represents a shift from a traditional approach that focuses
on regulation of point sources, to a more regional approach that acknowledges
environmental impacts from other activities. Over the last twenty-five years,
permitting programs have significantly reduced pollutants that are discharged
to California’s waters from point sources. However, the quality of many
waters continues to be degraded from pollutants discharged from diffuse and
diverse sources, referred to as nonpoint sources, and from the cumulative impacts
of multiple point sources. Future success in reducing pollutants from nonpoint
sources and achieving additional cost-effective reductions in pollutants from
point sources requires a shift to a more geographically-targeted approach.
A key component of the 2001 Strategic Plan for the State Water Resources Control
Board and the nine Regional Water Quality Control Boards is a watershed management
approach. The Watershed Management Initiative is intended to support the Strategic
Plan to address the goals of:
- The Boards’ organizations are effective, innovative and responsive
- Surface waters are safe for drinking, swimming, and support healthy ecosystems
and other beneficial uses
- Ground water is safe for drinking and other beneficial uses
- Water resources are fairly and equitably used and allocated consistent
with public trust
- Individuals and other stakeholders support our efforts and understand their
role in contributing to water quality
- Water quality is comprehensively measured to evaluate protection and restoration
efforts.
Watershed
Management Initiative Chapter
The WMI seeks to facilitate solutions from all interested parties in a watershed,
and coordinate measures to improve watershed health, and ultimately the beneficial
uses of water. Each regional board has identified watersheds in their region,
prioritized water quality issues, and developed watershed management strategies
that are included in their WMI Chapter. The Chapter and its Appendices is organized
into sections including the Executive Summary, Introduction, Watershed Sections,
and Regional Activities. Included in each Watershed Section is an overview
of that watershed, a description of its water quality concerns and issues,
past significant Regional Board activities in the watershed, current activities,
near-term activities that would benefit the watershed, and activities which
may happen on a longer time-scale. Six watershed management areas (WMA) are
designated in the Region: Klamath River, Trinity River, Humboldt Bay, Eel River,
Russian/Bodega, and North Coast Rivers.
The Chapter is currently used both as an outreach and as a planning tool to
identify the Region’s priorities, describe where we should spend our
baseline resources, as well as the need for additional resources. The Chapter
itself is not a commitment to complete work but provides a framework to identify
priorities and resource needs. Annual program workplans and grant applications
will still be prepared by program managers to identify which activities are
going to be funded in a particular year based on the fiscal decisions made.
The highest priority activities identified in the Chapter include:
- Maintaining the core regulatory program for regulated dischargers
- Increasing emphasis on storm water runoff issues
- Increasing monitoring and assessment activities
- Increasing emphasis on nonpoint source issues (including forestry), especially
as they affect salmonid resources
- Developing and implementing Total Daily Maximum Load strategies (mostly
sediment and temperature associated with salmonid resource declines)
- Improving outreach and community involvement in decisions, and
- Fostering watershed groups and volunteer monitoring
