Watershed Management Initiative

A watershed is the area extending from the high point on the land where water collects (such as a mountain peak) to the low point where the area drains into a creek, river, lake, bay, ocean or other waterbody. Watershed management is the integration and coordination of activities that affect the quality of the watershed’s natural resources.  The premise of watershed management is that many water quality and ecosystem problems are best prioritized, addressed and solved at the watershed level rather than at the individual waterbody or discharger level. Features of a watershed management approach are targeting priority problems, promoting a high level of stakeholder involvement, developing integrated solutions that make use of the expertise and authority of multiple agencies and organizations, and measuring success through monitoring and other data gathering.

A five-year Strategic Plan guides the water resource protection efforts of the State and Regional Water Boards. A key component of the Strategic Plan is the Watershed Management Initiative (WMI.) The WMI promotes a watershed management approach for water quality protection.  It is intended to help meet our goal of providing water resources enhancement and restoration while balancing economic and environmental impacts. Each of the nine Regional Water Boards prepares its individual Chapter of the WMI, which is used both as an outreach and planning tool to identify the Region’s priorities and programs. The WMI Chapter is not a commitment to complete work but rather provides a framework to focus and integrate resources to more efficiently restore degraded waterways, encourage regional resource-based planning, and promote the use of urban and rural management practices for pollution control.

The WMI Chapter is posted below. Some sections were updated in 2005.  For information on the next scheduled update or other WMI questions, please contact Cindy Wise at (530) 542-5408 or CWise@waterboards.ca.gov

Overview

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Section 1 - Introduction

Section 2 - Focus Watersheds

2.1	Lower Truckee River Watershed (1 of 5 focus watersheds)
2.2	Upper Truckee River Watershed (2 of 5 focus watersheds
2.3	Carson River Watershed (3 of 5 focus watersheds
2.4	Upper Owens River Watershed -- Long HA (4 of 5 focus watersheds)
2.5	Mojave River Watershed (5 of 5 focus watersheds)
2.6	Antelope Valley Watershed

Section 3 - Program Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")

3.1	Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)
3.2	Nonpoint Source Program Activities ("Regionwide")
3.3	Monitoring Program Activities throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.4	Assessment Program ActivitiesThroughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.5	National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Program Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.6	National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) Stormwater Program Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.7	Non Chapter 15 Program Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.8	Chapter 15 Program Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.9	Watershed Management Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.10	Wetlands Program Activities ("Regionwide")
3.11	GroundWater Program Activities ("Regionwide")
3.12	Planning and Standards Prorgam Activities Throughout the Region ("Regionwide")
3.13	Aboveground Tanks Program Activities ("Regionwide")
3.14	Department of Defense Program Activities ("Regionwide")
3.15	Spills, Leaks, Investigation, and Cleanup (SLIC) Prorgam Activities ("Regionwide")

Section 4 - Appendices

4.1	Regional Priorities and Targeted Projects Appendix