Watershed Management

A watershed is the land area from which water drains to a particular water body. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes, and they cross county, state, and national boundaries. A watershed planning and management approach, which is key to meeting clean water goals, represents a comprehensive and integrated way to protect all water resources, including uplands, drainage basins, wetlands, surface water, and groundwater.

Join the discussion on WEF's LinkedIn Stormwater and Watershed Group.

Get Involved

Watershed Management Community
The committee develops and conducts activities to advance the understanding, planning, implementation, and use of watershed management tools and techniques to more effectively enhance the global water environment. Apply Online

WEF staff contact: Bianca Pinto
703-684-2400 x7050
BPinto@wef.org

WEF Resources

Advances in Water Quality Trading as a Flexible Compliance Tool

This book explores the status of water quality trading and recent changes in the industry, and is a guide for implementing and using water quality trading for regulatory compliance purposes. Topics such as current legal and regulatory challenges, in depth case studies, and future applications are discussed in detail. This book offers a look at where and how optimizing investments in water quality through trading are unfolding. Municipalities, industries, agencies, and environmental organizations all benefit from this guidance.

Non-WEF Research and Reports

Water Quality Trading Assessment Handbook
This handbook provides an analytical framework to assess the conditions and water quality problem(s) in any specific watershed and determine whether Water Quality Trading (WQT) could be effectively used. The framework is illustrated through the use of example trades in a hypothetical river basin to familiarize the reader with the requisites and potential benefits of specific trading scenarios. For this reason, the handbook is useful reading for anyone who wants to learn more about WQT and the essential functions that a WQT market should deliver. Published by the US EPA.

A New Tool For Water Quality: Making Watershed Trading Work for You
This document provides a discussion of watershed trading from the environmental NGO perspective. This document provides a checklist of safeguards to protect water quality that is useful for anyone interested in pursuing watershed trading. Also includes useful appendices listing trading-oriented websites and state contacts. Published by the National Wildlife Federation.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Watershed-Based Trading Links

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Trading Site
The site describes trading and has a database of trading programs nationwide. There are also links to the websites of several of the trading programs under development.

Environmental Trading Network
The Environmental Trading Network is an organization dedicated solely to the development and implementation of successful water quality trading programs and other market-based strategies for achieving healthy, sustainable ecosystems.

Third-Party TMDL Development Tool Kit

A third-party TMDL is a TMDL in which an organization or group other than the lead water quality agency takes responsibility for developing the TMDL document and supporting analysis. A third party can be a watershed group, municipal wastewater or stormwater discharger organization, industrial discharger entity, other unit of government (such as a county, city, municipality, or land management agency), or nonpoint source organization (such as a farm bureau, irrigation and drainage district, or landowner).

Under a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, WEF has developed a Tool Kit (PDF) for third-party TMDL development.

Third parties are often very familiar with local watershed issues and can provide valuable insights to the TMDL process. The involvement and economic support of third parties can leverage state funds, as well as the resources and expertise of other agencies and nongovernmental organizations. Third-party involvement in TMDL decisions may improve the level of stakeholder support for the TMDL, increase the likelihood of effective implementation of pollutant controls, and increase the degree of public understanding of TMDLs and water quality protection issues.