Welcome to the State Water Resources Control Board Welcome to the California Environmental Protection Agency

Watershed Management

Water Board Involvement with Watersheds

The State and Regional Water Quality Control Boards are responsible for protecting California’s water resources. California is divided into nine regions based on major watersheds. The Regional Boards are located within these regions. Over the past ten years the State and Regional Water Board has shifted towards looking at entire watersheds when addressing water pollution. With the input and involvement of local stakeholders, unique and effective solutions can then be created. The Water Board adopted the Watershed Management Initiative (WMI) to further its goals.

Visit the Water Board's Surface Water Ambient Monitoring Programs (SWAMP's), CWT "Community Based Watershed Programs" web page for further information about community-based watershed programs, volunteer monitoring programs, watershed groups in California, an inventory of watershed projects and more!

Quick Links

What's New!

  • Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program (EEMP) Solicitation Notice
    The Resources Agency and Caltrans are pleased to announce the joint release of the Guidelines and Application for the EEMP.

    Grants will be awarded to local, state, and federal governmental agencies and to nonprofit organizations for projects to mitigate the environmental impacts caused by new or modified public transportation facilities. Eligible projects must be directly or indirectly related to the environmental impact of the modification of an existing transportation facility, or construction of a new transportation facility.

    Access the EEMP Guidelines and Application. The Guidelines include information to assist you in preparing an application for funding. Please be sure to read the Guidelines in their entirety for important information on project eligibility and evaluation criteria.

    The final application submission date is Monday, December 22, 2008. For more information about the EEMP, visit the Caltrans Website.

    If you have any questions on the Guidelines or Application for the EEMP, please contact the Program Coordinator Laurie Heller at (916) 651-7593, or at eemcoordinator@resources.ca.gov.
  • Center for Watershed Protection Releases Request for Proposals for its Technical Capacity Mini-Grant Program
    With funding from an EPA Targeted Watershed Initiative Grant, the Center for Watershed Protection is currently inviting proposals for its Technical Capacity Mini-Grant Program, awarding direct assistance and financial support to a wide range of small watershed organizations.
    • These small watershed organizations play a key role in local watershed management and, collectively, in regional water resource protection and restoration.  The goal of the Mini-Grant Program is to strengthen the technical capacity of these watershed organizations in the areas of storm water and watershed management.
    • Technical Capacity Mini-Grant RFP Guidelines
    • Submit an electronic copy of the proposal and questions to Lisa Fraley-McNeal.
  • CALFED Watershed Grant Program Solicitation to Implement Watershed Plans
    On Wednesday August 6th, 2008, the State Water Board issued a focused solicitation for Proposition 50 Funds. Approximately $4 million is available for this Solicitation, with a minimum grant amount of $1 million and a maximum grant amount of $4 million per project.
    • Solicitation Notice
    • Project(s) must be ready to proceed and help achieve one of the Watershed Program's goals to better define and quantify the impacts of community-based watershed management on natural resource conditions within the Bay-Delta System. Concept proposals are due to the State Water Board by 5:00 pm on Wednesday September 17, 2008.
    • Questions regarding this Program or the upcoming solicitation should be directed to Dan Wermiel (email) at 916 324-9017 or Ruben Mora (email) at 916 341-5387.
  • CALFED Watershed Grant Program Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for Riparian Buffer Sizing Tool
    It is anticipated that in September, the State Water Board will issue a RFQ for up to $500,000 to develop a decision support tool for local land use planners to adequately size riparian buffers.
    • Questions regarding this upcoming RFQ should be directed to Lori Schmitz (email) at 916 341-5903 or Eric Berntsen (email) at (916) 341-5911.
  • Registration for World Water Monitoring Day 2008 is Now Open!
    The World Water Monitoring Day (WWMD) database has had a facelift and is now open for business! Please visit www.WorldWaterMonitoringDay.org to register yourself and your monitoring site(s) in preparation for this year's monitoring effort. Clicking on the "Participate" menu will lead you through the few simple steps it takes to be a WWMD participant. Questions about registration can be addressed to wwmd@wef.org.
    • Water test kits for WWMD are available online. The kit includes everything you'll need to test your waterbody for pH, dissolved oxygen, temperature and turbidity and is designed to be an accurate, yet accessible technology for all levels of experience. If you already have access to monitoring equipment, you are welcome and encouraged to use it!
    • World Water Monitoring Day encourages participation from Low and Middle-Income countries through the donation of monitoring kits. For more information, please contact wwmd@wef.org.

Watershed Management Initiative (WMI)

The WMI was approved as part of the 1995 Strategic Plan and remains a part of the current Strategic Plan  (Note: The Strategic Plan is currently being updated). The WMI establishes a broad framework overlying the numerous federal and state mandated priorities. As such, the WMI helps the Water Board to achieve water resource protection, enhancement and restoration while balancing economic and environmental impacts.

  • Goals and Objectives
    The integrated approach of the WMI involves three main ideas:
    1. Use water quality to identify and prioritize water resource problems within individual watersheds. Involve stakeholders to develop solutions.
    2. Better coordinate point source and nonpoint source regulatory efforts. Establish working relationships between staff from different programs.
    3. Better coordinate local, state and federal activities and programs, especially those relating to regulations and funding, to assist local watershed groups.
  • WMI Chapters
    The Regional Boards have developed watershed management strategies that consider local conditions and pollution sources for their priority watersheds. Each Regional Board’s WMI Chapter contains these strategies and identifies priorities, where baseline resources will be spent, and where more resources are needed. Each WMI chapter is updated as needed by the Regional Board or by a directive from the State Water Board. The combined Regional WMI Chapters comprise the Integrated Plan to view a particular Regional Board chapter:
    • RB 1 - North Coast Region
    • RB 2 - San Francisco Bay Region
    • RB 3 - Central Coast Region
    • RB 4 - Los Angeles Region
    • RB 5 - Central Valley Region
    • RB 6 - Lahontan Region
    • RB 7 - Colorado River Basin Region
    • RB 8 - Santa Ana Region
    • RB 9 - San Diego Region
  • Integrated Plan
    The original Integrated Plan described statewide priorities that were developed collaboratively by the State Water Board, United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S.EPA) and the Regional Boards. The plan also identified the integrated planning process developed by these agency partners to ensure funding of the highest priority activities. The Integrated Plan served largely as an internal planning document to support local watershed management efforts. Updated annually, it consisted of nine Regional WMI Chapters, a State Water Board Chapter and a U.S.EPA Chapter. The combined Regional WMI Chapters, now updated when necessary, comprise the current Integrated Plan. The State Strategic Plan superseded the State Water Board Chapter and the U.S.EPA Chapter is no longer part of the Integrated Plan.

Watershed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

Revised on November 30, 2004, this MOU replaces the April 28, 2003, Watershed Management MOU required by the Watershed, Clean Beaches, and Water Quality Act.

  • What it Defines: a cooperative process for improving watershed health in California
  • The Focus: Agency programs within the California Environmental Protection Agency and the Resources Agency
  • Implementation Efforts Overseen by: Secretaries for Cal/EPA and the Resources Agency
  • What it was Designed to Implement:
    • The California Agency Watershed Strategic Plan
    • Coordination of the Integrated Watershed Management Program with other Watershed Programs
    • Stakeholder advisory processes to assist in setting priorities and allocating funds
    • Watershed protection objectives in the Governor's Environmental Action Plan and Ocean Action Strategy
  • Memorandum of Understanding

Additional Internet Resources

California Watershed Information

  • California Watershed Portal - A joint web site created by the California Environmental Protection Agency and Resources Agency to provide on-line tools, data, information, and links to the California watershed communities.
  • Information Center for the Environment (ICE) - A cooperative effort of environmental scientists at the University of California, Davis and collaborators at over thirty private, state, federal, and international organizations interested in environmental protection.
    • Natural Resource Projects Inventory (NRPI) - A comprehensive, searchable, electronic database that houses information on thousands of conservation, mitigation and restoration projects being developed and implemented throughout California. NRPI contains an especially vast amount of information on water quality, watershed protection, fisheries habitat and exotic species removal.
    • Global Invasive Species Team (GIST) - Associated with The Nature Conservancy, and helps to ensure that The Nature Conservancy and other organizations can succeed in protecting native plants, animals and natural communities by assessing and preventing invasions of non-native species in terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems.  GIST contains updates on new invasive species, and several searchable, electronic databases to help identify current exotic species in your area.
  • California Watershed Assessment Manual (CWAM) - provides information and guidance to assist watershed assessors. The CWAM is a procedural guide that should be useful to a variety of watershed stakeholders. The mechanics for conducting a watershed assessment are described in detail in the CWAM. One of the ultimate goals of the CWAM is to provide some standardization among watershed assessments, to allow for cross-watershed comparisons.
  • California Watershed Network (CWN) - A non-profit organization formed in 2000, with the mission to help people protect and restore the natural environments of California’s watersheds while ensuring healthy and sustainable communities. CWN works to develop a coordinated network of community-based watershed management in California.
  • Joint Task Force on California Watershed Management - This Task Force assisted in the planning and execution of the State's Watershed Management plan. Included on this web site is the 2002 Final Report of the Task Force on the current status of watershed management in California and links to other valuable California watershed information.
  • CALFED Watershed Program - funded by Proposition 13 and Proposition 50, and established in 1998 as an aid to achieving the overarching goal of the CALFED Bay-Delta Program to restore ecological health and improve water management by working with the community at a watershed level. The goals of the Watershed Program are to provide financial and technical assistance for watershed activities that help achieve the mission and objectives of CALFED, and to promote collaboration and integration among community based watershed efforts.
    • BDPAC Watershed Subcommittee - (formerly known as the Watershed Work Group) Formed in 1998 to assist in the development and implementation of CALFED'S Watershed Program Plan. As of December 2006, the subcommittee is no longer under the jurisdiction of the CALFED Program as it transitions to a statewide approach managed under the Department of Conservation.
    • California Department of Conservation - Provides grants toward beverage container recycling, agricultural land conservation and watershed restoration and management.  The Watershed Coordinator Grant Program is a collaborative effort between the Department of Conservation and the CALFED Bay-Delta Program to improve watersheds within the CALFED Solution Area by providing support for coordinating watershed improvements. These areas include watersheds that contribute water to or receive water from the Bay-Delta system.

Other Resources

  • Calflora - Provides information on wild California plants for conservation, education, and appreciation. What Grows Here is a new Calflora application which emphasizes what plants have been observed growing near a particular place. Through this interface, users can pick a place in California by any of several different approaches (e.g., by watershed, town, zip code, park, etc.)
  • Watershed Management Council - A non-profit organization whose members represent a broad range of watershed management interests and disciplines. Find information here on watershed topics such as Sierran Ecosystems, Salmon Recovery and Watershed Monitoring in addition to links to other watershed and geoscience sites.
  • Surf Your Watershed - Provides assessments of watershed health, environmental information, and other drinking water information by searching through geographic units.  By visiting this U.S. Environmental Protection Agency web page, you can find local and national watersheds, and search information on citizen based groups that are active in your watershed.  
    • Watershed and Wetland Protection Information Kit For County Officials - A collection of electronic resources to assist county and local officials with efforts for protecting and restoring the multiple benefits of their community’s water resources.
    • Draft Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters - Intended to help communities, watershed organizations, and state, local, tribal and federal environmental agencies develop and implement watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources. It was designed to help any organization undertaking a watershed planning effort, and it should be particularly useful to persons working with impaired or threatened waters. EPA intends for this handbook to supplement existing watershed planning guides that have already been developed by agencies, universities, and other nonprofit organizations.
  • Social Marketing Guide for Watershed Programs
    “Getting Your Feet Wet with Social Marketing: A Social Marketing Guide for Watershed Programs” (7.3 MB) - A free guide for using social marketing to further watershed program goals is now available, courtesy of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food.
    • Successful social marketing campaigns can inspire watershed residents and stakeholders to engage in and sustain actions that will save water, improve the condition of the watershed and reduce pollution. Overall watershed protection and restoration goals and fundraising efforts will be furthered through measurable results achieved through communications-based approaches. Social marketing can be an efficient and cost-effective way to improve and restore environmental conditions.
    • The first eight chapters of this book guide the reader through the social marketing process using water examples from Utah and throughout the country. The final four chapters offer short case studies of successful water-related social marketing efforts. The appendices are filled with worksheets, checklists, lists of additional resources and samples of audience research documents.
  • Western Collaborative Assistance Network Announced
    Western Collaboration Assistance Network (WestCAN) - a program that provides short-term expertise to help collaborative efforts get started or to work through challenging issues.

Contact Information

 

(Updated 11/10/08)