0B – General Resources

Content last updated June 23, 2014

General Resources: MP Implementation and Enforcement

• California Association of Resource Conservation Districts provides a link to each RCD. The California Association of Resource Conservation Districts is a voluntary association whose primary purpose is to provide a unified means for California RCDs to meet major conservation goals.
  
  
• California Department of Boating and Waterways mission is to provide safe and convenient public access to California's waterways and leadership in promoting the public's right to safe, enjoyable, and environmentally sound recreational boating.
  
  
• UC Berkeley, Water Resources Center Archives, Internet Resources is a clearinghouse for links related to water resource management and historical water resource data in California. The links are organized by topic and include Topic: "Coastal, Estuarine, Ocean," "Restoration," "Rivers, Lakes, Creeks," and others.
  
  
• USDA NRCS, California offices can provide specific, local information on programs and information resource available to address many of management measures. For local assistance, contact USDA NRCS California State Office, 430 G Street #4164, Davis, CA 95616-4164 (Telephone: 530-792-5600; Fax: 530-792-5790).
  
  
• USDA NRCS, Electronic Field Office Technical Guide is maintained in each USDA NRCS field office as a compilation of local technical knowledge, resource data references, and conservation practice standards.
  
  
• USDA NRCS, National Handbook of Conservation Practices contains all conservation practice standards issued by the NRCS, topics include: nutrient management, conservation tillage, erosion control, irrigation, grazing, etc.
  
  
• USEPA, National Service Center for Environmental Publications contains more than 7,000 in stock and 26,000 digital titles are available FREE of charge.

General Resources: Funding

• California Coastal Coalition Grants provides links to a variety of funding opportunities related to ocean resources and adjacent shorelines and coastal wetlands.
  
  
• California Department of Water Resources Grants and Loans provides information about grants and/or loans are available for water conservation, agricultural water recycling, groundwater management, water quality and supply, and studies and activities to enhance local water supply reliability.
  
  
• California Watershed Portal provides links to funding resources.
  
  
• Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program offers financial assistance to government agencies and nonprofit organizations to fund projects aimed at reducing pollution associated with new or modified State transportation facilities.
  
  
• NRCS, Resource Conservation and Development Program (RC&D) is to accelerate the conservation, development and utilization of natural resources, improve the general level of economic activity, and to enhance the environment and standard of living in designated RC&D areas.
  
  
• SWRCB, Department of Financial Assistance (DFA) administers the implementation of the SWRCBs financial assistance programs, which includes loan and grant funding for construction of municipal sewage and water recycling facilities, remediation for underground storage tank releases, watershed protection projects, nonpoint source pollution control projects, etc. DFA also administers the Water Recycling Program and the Operator Certification Program.
  
  
• SWRCB, Education and Public Outreach provides hyperlinks to funding sources for environmental outreach activities ranging from conservation and preservation activities to science education scholarships.
  
  
• U.S. General Services Administration, The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance select "Search for Assistance Programs" and browse "By Functional Area" to select "Environmental Quality," which yields the following choices relevant to NPS pollution: water pollution control; solid waste management; pesticides control; and research, education, and training.
  
  
• USDA Water Quality Information Center, Funding Sources for Water Quality provides information on water quality funding sources and programs including funding from USDA, the U.S. Department of Interior, NOAA, the Federal Highway Administration, and USGS.
  
  
• USEPA, Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection provides a comprehensive summary of federal grant and loan programs to support watershed projects. Also contains references to other publications as well as Websites on funding assistance.
  
  
• USEPA, Clean Water Financing provides links with more information about the Clean Water State Revolving Fund, the Construction Grants Program, Water Pollution Control Program Grants, Water Quality Cooperative Agreements, Clean Water Indian Program Grants, and assistance with privatization of wastewater facilities.
  
  
• USEPA, Drinking Water State Revolving Fund provides guidance, fact sheets and reports, program data, and information about programs related to the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund. Funds from this program are to be used to finance drinking water infrastructure improvements. Emphasis is placed on funds to small and disadvantaged communities and to programs that encourage pollution prevention.
  
  
• USEPA, Environmental Finance Program assists communities in their search for creative approaches to fund their environmental projects. The program provides financial technical assistance to the regulated community and solicits advice and recommendations to the USEPA on environmental finance issues, trends, and options. This program has a companion Website, Environmental Financial Tools that provides continuously updated links to sources of financing from the Environmental Finance Program other USEPA programs and offices, as well as organizations outside the agency.
  
  
• USEPA, Funding for Nonpoint Source Pollution contains numerous links to resources that are specifically geared toward addressing NPS pollution problems. Both USEPA and non-USEPA sites are included.
  
  
• USEPA, State and Local Government Guide to Environmental Program Funding Alternatives this document provides an overview of traditional (nongovernmental) funding mechanisms and innovative approaches for funding environmental programs.
  
  
• USEPA, Tribal Grants provides links to environmental funding opportunities for tribes, as well as links to general information such as how to write a grant proposal.

General Resources: News and Events

• Aquifornia is a blog dedicated to educating Southern Californians about water conservation.
  
  
• California Coastal Cleanup Day is the highlight of the California Coastal Commission’s year 'round Adopt-A-Beach program and takes place every year on the third Saturday of September, from 9 a.m. to Noon. In 2008, that day falls on September 20th.
  
  
• Creek Week is a week long educational experience sponsored by the Sacramento Urban Creeks Council. This event takes place on the third week in April and culminates in a volunteer Cleanup event and volunteer appreciation party. In 2008, that day falls on April 26th.
  
  
• G. Fred Lee and Associates, Stormwater Runoff Science/Engineering Newsletter is devoted to stormwater-runoff water quality issues in managing urban and agricultural stormwater runoff water quality impacts. The newsletter can be searched by topic or volume, and publications on other topics, including landfills, watersheds, contaminated sediment, reclaimed waters, hazardous chemicals, water quality, domestic water, and excess fertilization, can also be found on this site.
  
  
• Stormwater, the Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals.
  
  
• University of California, On Water, by Water Resources Center Archives and Center for Water Resources features news, research, and current events on all aspects of water resources.
  
  
• USEPA, Nonpoint Source News-Notes is an online bulletin published by EPA that covers a wide range of topics, including nonpoint source pollution control, watershed restoration, and ecosystem-driven management. The Web interface allows users to search current and back issues of News-Notes by keyword.

General Resources: Planning, Modeling, and Mapping

• Arizona State University Active Tectonics Group’s webpages are devoted to Light Distance And Ranging (LiDAR), also known as Airborne Laser Swath Mapping (ALSM) related research. This group focuses on the technical aspects of working with these data as well as applied geoscience research specifically focused on active tectonics and earthquake geology research. LiDAR / ALSM data, resources and tools are available on this Website.
  
  
• Cal Poly Kennedy Library has a wide variety of information resources available for GIS and Mapping, including printed, microfilm, and 3-D relief maps. This Map Collection emphasizes contemporary maps of the Central coast Region and the West Coast of the United States.
  
  
• California Department of Fish and Wildlife, California Natural Diversity Database (CNDDB) is a program that inventories the status and locations of rare plants and animals in California. CNDDB staff work with partners to maintain current lists of rare species as well as maintain an ever-growing database of GIS-mapped locations for these species.
  
  
• California Department of Water Resources Data Exchange Center contains data sets on river conditions, river guidance plots, water supply, statewide water conditions, and more.
  
  
• California Environmental Resources Evaluation System (CERES) is an information system developed by the California Resources Agency to facilitate access to a variety of electronic data describing California's rich and diverse environments. The goal of CERES is to improve environmental analysis and planning by integrating natural and cultural resource information from multiple contributors and by making it available and useful to a wide variety of users.
  
  
• California Watershed Portal provides links to download maps and tools for watershed groups.
  
  
• California Graphic Information Association, the Cal-Atlas Geospatial Clearinghouse, formerly the California Spatial Information Library operated by California Environmental Resource Evaluation System, facilitates the coordinated and sustainable development, maintenance, licensing and sharing of geospatial data and web map services by California government agencies, partners and stakeholders.
  
  
• CERES, Natural Resource Projects Inventory (NRPI) is a searchable comprehensive electronic database with information on thousands of conservation, mitigation and restoration projects being developed and implemented throughout California. It was developed as a collaborative effort between the California Biodiversity Council and the University of California at Davis Information Center for the Environment.
  
  
• California EcoAtlas provides access to information for effective wetland management.
  
  
• National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS), Centralized Data Management Office (CDMO) is housed at the North Inlet-Winyah Bay NERR in South Carolina. It was established in support of the National Estuarine NERR System-wide Monitoring Program (SWMP) that is currently implemented at 27 reserves in the US and Puerto Rico. To learn more about the water quality, meteorological and nutrient parameters and units collected for the System-wide Monitoring Program, visit the National Estuarine Research Reserve System-wide Monitoring Program Website.
  
  
• National Ocean Service and National Marine Fisheries Service’s San Francisco Bay Project Impact Evaluation System (PIES) is designed as a reference and decision support tool for marine project proponents, resource managers, and the public. PIES provides background information on Permitting and Policy issues within the Bay, gives point of contact information for the various agencies regulating the Bay, and serves as a portal to other Websites directly relating to permitting and management of Bay resources.
  
  
• Natural Resource Projects Inventory (NRPI) began as a collaborative effort between UC Davis Information Center for the Environment (ICE) and the California Biodiversity Council (CBC) in 1995. In response to a growing need for more project related data on California's natural resources, existing inventories* were synthesized into one database and thousands of new projects have been added through individual online entries and electronic database transfers. Today, NRPI is the most comprehensive statewide database of its kind in California with over 6,000 natural resource projects searchable on the Internet. These projects include watershed conservation and acquisition, restoration and noxious weed eradication, assessment, planning, and scientific studies. Projects are linked to CERES California Environmental Information Catalog (CEIC), GeoFinder, California Digital Atlas and Google Maps.
  
  
• Natural Resources Conservation Service Soil Maps can be used to identify areas with highly erodible soils, and topographic maps and data can be purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey and used to identify steep slopes.
  
  
• NOAAs Restoration Center provides comprehensive information about restoration techniques, NOAA restoration references, habitat types, monitoring strategies, and external publications and resources. The site also provides educational resources and a list of funding sources.
  
  
• Purdue University, Tools for the Impacts of Land-Use Changes to Water Resources. This web portal contains tools to address both short and long-term effects of land-use changes to water resources.
  
  
• SWRCB, Data and Databases contains direct links to many commonly used web portals for information exchange in California relating to the management of water resources.
  
  
• UC Davis, ICE GEOWBS contains information about waterbodies in California. Query by Water Quality Control Board Region, type of waterbody, beneficial uses, TMDL pollutant, causes of pollution, or sources of pollution. Note: this information may not be the most current.
  
  
• USSEPA, Rainfall Erosivity Factor Calculator, for calculating waiver eligibility
  
  
• USDA, NRCS – Web Soil Survey provides soil data and information produced by the National Cooperative Soil Survey. It is operated by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and provides access to the largest natural resource information system in the world. NRCS has soil maps and data available online for more than 95 percent of the nation’s counties and anticipates having 100 percent in the near future. The site is updated and maintained online as the single authoritative source of soil survey information.
  
  
• USEPA, ATTAINS, combines two formerly separate databases: the National Assessment Database (for water quality assessment information reported by the states under Section 305(b)), and the National Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) Tracking System (for impaired waters information reported by the states under Section 303(d)). The site includes state-reported information on support of designated uses; identified causes and sources of impairment; identified impaired waters; and status of actions to restore impaired waters. The Website allows the user to view dynamic, continuously-updated tables and charts that summarize state-reported information for the nation as a whole, for individual states and waters, and for the 10 EPA regions.
  
  
• USEPA, Basins: Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources this tool integrates national watershed data and state-of-the-art environmental assessment and modeling tools into a geographic information system (GIS). The EPA Website allows users to download the application and access documentation, metadata, frequently asked questions, training, an online forum, and other tools and utilities.
  
  
• USEPA, Watershed and Water Quality Modeling Technical Support Center. The mission of the Center is to provide assistance to EPA Regions, State and Local Governments, and their contractors in the implementation of the Clean Water Act. The Center which is part of EPA’s Office of Research and Development is committed to providing access to technically defensible tools and approaches that can be used in the development of Total Maximum Daily Loads, waste load allocations, and watershed protection plans. The Center will reach out to experts throughout EPA and States to bring technical expertise to the Center.

General Resources: Watershed Focused

• California Coastal Commission, helps implement the NPS Program Plan by working collaboratively with SWRCB, RWQCBs, and other agencies, through the Interagency Coordinating Committees. Over one-hundred critical coastal areas have been identified and watershed action plans are being developed to restore these waterbodies. Critical coastal areas are 303d listed waterbodies that flow into marine protected areas and areas of special biological significance.
  
  
• California Watershed Funding Database provides links to current funding sources for a variety of topics relating to watershed protection.
  
  
• California Watershed Portal by Resources Agency and CalEPA, provides access to important data and information, and links to the larger California Watershed community.
  
  
• Gulf of Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association, is the only non-profit organization dedicated to protecting the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary's wildlife and habitats through the development of a diverse community of informed and active ocean stewards. We collaborate closely with the Sanctuary staff and coordinate and sponsor programming and initiatives that ensure the Sanctuary is protected.
  
  
• Sacramento River Watershed Program brings together dozens of groups and thousands of people, concerned about the health of the Sacramento River and its watershed
  
  
• Covering 27,000 square miles from the Oregon border to the Delta, the Sacramento River watershed covers most of northern California, linking every aspect of life in the region.
  
  
• As one of the largest watersheds in the United States, it serves as an important source of drinking water and recreation as well as a vital economic artery for commerce and agriculture.
  
  
• SWRCBs, Community Based Watershed Programs provides links for watershed groups and projects, as well as citizen monitoring and other related organizations.
  
  
• UC Davis, Center for Watershed Sciences is dedicated to the interdisciplinary study of the freshwater and estuarine ecosystems of California and the West.
  
  
• UC Davis, Center for Water and Land Use aims to increase awareness and understanding of the relationships between water resources and land use policies and practices through education, training, applied research, collaboration and dissemination of information.
  
  
• USEPA, Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection provides a comprehensive summary of federal grant and loan programs to support watershed projects. Also contains references to other publications as well as Websites on funding assistance.
  
  
• USEPA, Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters is designed to help anyone undertaking a watershed planning effort, but should be particularly useful to persons working with impaired or threatened waters. It contains in-depth guidance on quantifying existing pollutant loads, developing estimates of the load reductions required to meet water quality standards, developing effective management measures, and tracking progress once the plan is implemented. New materials were added to the handbook including ways to protect important elements of the landscape and aquatic habitats within a watershed.
  
  
• Water Environment Federation (WEF), World Water Monitoring Day, adopted by WEF in July 2006, this event is an international outreach program that builds public awareness and involvement in protecting water resources around the world. Held annually between September 18 and October 18, the program engages communities in monitoring the condition of local rivers, streams, estuaries and other water bodies. Since its inception in 2002, more than 80,000 people have participated in 50 countries.