Watersheds

Online Tools

• Understanding the Clean Water Act

River Network produced this handy online course that is complete with easy-to-understand explinations, appealing graphics, and true/ false quizzes. The course covers TMDLs, Antidegredation, and other key concepts. The course also includes a section on applying the Clean Water Act in Coal Country.

• Benefits of Watershed-Based NPDES Permitting

An EPA web-cast. Webcast instructors will discuss the benefits of watershed-based permitting, present an explanation of the process and several mechanisms to implement watershed-based permitting, and outline how EPA will encourage this approach. Powerpoint slides and audio available.

• Handbook for Developing Watershed-Based Plans

An EPA web-cast. Goes through the steps needed to develop and implement watershed plans. Powerpoint slides and audio available.

• Opportunities for Citizen Involvement in the Clean Water Act

An EPA web-cast. Outlines ways citizens and organizations can use the law in their efforts to protect their watersheds. Powerpoint slides and audio available.

• Using Brownfields Grants for Watershed Restoration

The Webcast will showcase the Black Warrior-Cahaba Rivers Land Trust in Jefferson County, Alabama, which has received a $200,000 Brownfields Assessment Grant for the Five Mile Creek Project. Powerpoint slides, audio, and podcasts available.

Agency Resources

• US Environmental Protection Agency
  • EPA Watershed Info.
  • EPA Watershed News
  • Catalog of Fed. Funding Sources for Watershed Protection
    
• US Office of Surface Mining
• OSM/VISTA Watershed Team
• OSM Grants Information
  
• US Dept. of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
  • Watershed Rehabilitation Information
  •  Emergency Watershed Protection
  • Watershed Protection, Watershed Surveys, & Flood Prevention 
  • Wetlands Reserve Program

• Partners for Fish & Wildlife Program

University Resources

• Know Your Watershed
  • Putting Together a Watershed Management Plan

Non-Profit Resources

• Clean Water Network
• River Network
• American Rivers
• Center for Watershed Protection
• Alliance for Watershed Action & Riparian Easements

Other Resources

• A Center for Rural Pennsylvania report surveyed 172 watershed groups in Pennsylvania and analyzed the results. The report describes how and why watershed groups form, the roles they play in developing and implementing environmental policy, and the characteristics of successful watershed groups.
  Though the study focuses on watershed groups in Pennsylvania, the case it presents for the continued existence of watershed groups can be applied in all states.

The design and implementation of this website has been made possible through assistance provided by the the Western PA Coalition for Abandoned Mine Reclamation (WPCAMR).              (c) 2005, ECRR - Eastern Coal Regional Roundtable