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Colorado River Basin - Watershed Management Initiative (WMI)

Colorado River Basin - Watershed Management Initiative (WMI)

The Watershed Management Initiative (WMI) was developed in response to recommendations from:

  1. The Boards' Strategic Plan,
  2. Technical Advisory Committee reports to the State Water Board on improving nonpoint source management, and
  3. recommendations of the Inland Surface Waters Plan's Watershed Task Force.

A key component of the WMI is the prioritization of water quality issues. Each Region develops a Watershed Management Initiative "Chapter", which is a staff-level planning document outlining the priority watershed in the Region, the water quality problems in the Region, and actions being taken to address water quality. The Chapter allocates time and resources to water quality issues accoding to management priorities.

The State Resources Control Board, Regional Water Quality Control Boards, and the US Environmental Protection Agency, through the WMI, are pursuing the following goals:

  • Encourage and practice comprehensive natural resource stewardship that is balanced with economic and other interests.
  • Promote voluntary, collaborative decision-making at the local level that is open to all stakeholders and seeks to identify compatible interests.
  • Integrate point source regulatory programs, nonpoint source programs, and other resource management programs on a watershed basis to promote effectiveness and efficiency.
  • Give more emphasis to reducing the impact of nonpoint sources.

In 1998, California developed and implemented the 1998 California Unified Watershed Assessment (UWA) in response to the Clean Water Action Plan released by President William Clinton and Vice-President Albert Gore on February 19, 1998. The UWA was a collaborative process between the State and the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and was developed to guide allocation of new federal resources for watershed protection. The table located below lists the watersheds in the Colorado River Basin Region, the USGS Cataloging Unit number, and a link to the US Environmental Protection Agency "Surf Your Watershed" information for the watersheds. The information contained on the Surf Your Watersheds links is not necessarily accurate.
Table 1. Watersheds in the Colorado River Basin Region, as Delineated by the USGS
Watershed Name USGS Cataloging Unit No. USEPA "Surf Your Watershed" Link
Salton Sea 18100200 http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=18100200
Southern Mojave 18100100 http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=18100100
Havasu-Mohave Lakes 15030101 http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15030101
Piute Wash 15030102 http:/cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15030102
Imperial Reservoir 15030104 http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15030104
Lower Colorado 15030107 http://cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/huc.cfm?huc_code=15030107

In Region 7, the focus of the WMI is the TMDL Program. The Priority Watershed in Region 7 is the Salton Sea Transboundary Watershed. Within the watershed are 5 (out of a total of 6) of the Region's impaired surface water bodies. Currently underway are efforts to develop TMDLs for silt for the Alamo River and bacteria for the International Boundary.

(Updated 7/12/05)