Watershed
Policy
Elements
of a State Water Monitoring and Assessment Program (EPA, 2003)
EPA and States need
comprehensive water quality monitoring and assessment information on
environmental conditions and changes over time to help set levels of
protection in water quality standards and to identify problem areas
that are emerging or that need additional regulatory and non-regulatory
actions to support water quality management decisions such as TMDLs,
NPDES permits, enforcement, and nonpoint source management. This information
also informs EPA and State decisionmakers, the Congress, the public,
and other stakeholders of the progress that the Agency and State partners
are making in protecting human health and the environment. Without this
information, it is difficult for EPA and the States to set priorities,
evaluate the success of programs and activities, and report on accomplishments
in a credible and informed way (U.S. GAO 2000).
California
Ocean Resources Management Program
The mission
of the California Ocean Resources Management Program (Program) is:
To
ensure comprehensive and coordinated management, conservation and enhancement
of California's ocean resources for their intrinsic value and for the
benefit of current and future generations.
Through the California
Ocean Resources Management Act (Public Resources Code 36000 et seq.)
the Legislature declared that it is the policy of the State of California
to:
- develop
and maintain an ocean resources planning and management program
to promote and ensure coordinated management of federal and State resources,
and to ensure coordination with adjacent states;
- ensure
effective participation in federal planning and management of ocean
resources and uses which may affect this State; and
- coordinate
state agency management of ocean resources with local government management
of coastal zone uses and resources above the mean high tide line.
California
Resources Agency Reports and Publications on Restoration, Watersheds,
Salmon, and Forests
These reports describe
views adopted as guiding principles by the State of California regarding
watershed functioning and related issues (e.g., forestry, stakeholder
processes, hydroelectric relicensing).
Watershed
Planning Guide -- Coastal Conservancy
By Kate J. Goodnight.
Coastal Conservancy. 2000, 17pp
State
of Washington Approach to Watershed Assessment and Planning
This site of the
Washington Department of Ecology is an index to the extensive on-line
resources related to this state’s watershed programs. In addition
to links for individual watershed plans that are completed or in progress,
information on the state’s approaches to assessment and planning
are available.
California
RWQCB Basin Plans
Each Regional Board is required to develop, adopt (after
public hearing), and implement a Water Quality Control Plan (Basin Plan).
The Basin Plan is the master policy document that contains descriptions
of the legal, technical, and programmatic bases of water quality regulation.
These plans include:
• A statement of beneficial water uses that the
Regional Board will protect;
• The water quality objectives needed to protect the designated
beneficial water uses; and
• The implementation plans for achieving the water quality objectives
through its regulatory programs.
North
Coast Region
San
Francisco Bay Region
Central
Coast Region
Los
Angeles Region
Central
Valley Region
Lahontan
Region
Colorado
River Basin Region
Santa
Ana Region
San
Diego Region
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