Resources

Watershed Group Directory

Check out the directory. We'll be allowing visitors to submit their own links online soon.

Putting A Price On Riparian Corridors As Water Treatment Facilities

The monetary value of natural riparian environments that provide water quality treatment functions by processing nutrients, storing sediment, moderating temperatures, and other services can be estimated by calculating the costs associated with the construction of "brick and mortar" water treatment plants built to achieve similar functions. A demonstration urban runoff treatment plant built by the City of Santa Monica provides similar water quality services as a 4,000-5,000 lineal foot riparian corridor does, and has annualized costs of approximately $1.3 million per year ($2008) over a 50-year period. [Read more]

California Watershed Assessment Manual Volume II Now Available

The California Watershed Assessment Manual Team is pleased to announce the release of CWAM Volume II material on the CWAM Web site. Volume I details the process for watershed assessment, from organizing the stakeholder process through scientific evaluations, to reporting conditions and developing watershed management plans. Volume II goes even further, providing the watershed community guidance on ways to include information on water quality, benthic macroinvertebrates, periphyton, fire ecology, and river processes. It does all of this in the context of environmental indicators and conceptual models, described in Chapter 1 of the new volume. These combined materials provide the cutting-edge methods for evaluating these aspects of watershed condition and ways to include the information in your watershed assessment. Additional material may be available over the next year (funding permitting), so keep your eyes peeled (and browser tuned) to the website.

California Watershed Funding Database

The California Watershed Funding Database is a comprehensive statewide database for watershed funding (private, local, state and federal funding sources). New entries are constantly being added, so be sure to revisit the site often if you are not going to take advantage of the auto notification features. If you have any questions, please contact Alicia Barr at abarr@ecst/csuchico.edu.

Natural Resource Project Inventory

The Natural Resource Project Inventory (NRPI) is a comprehensive electronic database. Visit the NRPI website to search and view information regarding California watershed projects. Contact Ms. Kevin Ward with questions regarding NRPI at kcward@ucdavis.edu.

USEPA Watershed Planning Handbook

The U.S. EPA Nonpoint Source Control Program has just published the Watershed Planning Handbook (more completely titled "Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect our Waters") on the EPA web site here. The document can be downloaded and there are directions for ordering free printed versions. The Handbook (400-plus pages) provides detailed information that is intended to assist all manner of watershed planners, and others whose work intersects with watershed planning issues, on virtually all aspects of the watershed planning process. The emphasis is on the nonpoint source water quality aspects of watersheds, but much of the information is more broadly applicable. The focus is on technical issues, but there is also a generously sized chapter on how to "Build Partnerships.” Overall, it is designed to take the user through each step of the watershed planning process, including watershed monitoring and assessment, community outreach, selection and application of available models, BMP effectiveness data bases, implementation, feedback and plan adjustment, and more.

California Watershed Assessment Manual

The California Watershed Assessment Manual (CWAM) Team is pleased to make available hard-copies of the final manual. Volume I of the Manual was finalized in 2005 and is available online, on CD, and now in hard-copy. If you would like the printed CWAM-Vol. I, please send an email to Fraser Shilling with your name and address.