How Can ! Make A Difference? Top Ten Watershed Tips 1. Conserve water every day—take shorter showers, fix leaks, and turn off the water while brushing your teeth. 2. Don't pour toxic household chemicals down the drain—take them to a local hazardous waste collection center instead. 3. Use hardy plants in your yard that require little or no watering, fertilizers, or pesticides. 4. Test your soil before applying fertilizer—it might not need it! 5. Recycle yard waste in a compost pile and leave grass clippings on the lawn. 6. Use surfaces like wood, brick, and gravel for decks, patios, and walkways. They allow rain to soak in, not run off. 7. Never pour used oil or antifreeze into the storm drain or the street. Recycle them at your local service station. 8. Pick up after your dog and dispose of the waste in the toilet or the trash. 9. Drive less—walk or bike instead. 10. Adopt Your Watershed! Learnmoreatwww.epa.gov/adopt. Tools to Help You Adopt Your Watershed Youth & Student Watershed Programs Adopt-A-Watershed www.adopt-a-watershed.org Awesome Aquifer Club www.groundwater.org Educating Young People About Water www.uwex.edu/erc/eypaw Make Your Own Watershed Kit Contact JT&A at 703-631 -8810 Making Ripples: How to Organize a School Water Festival www.groundwater.org Protecting Our Watersheds www.green.org Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) www.montana.edu/wwwwet River of Words Poetry and Art Contest www.nverofwords.org Schoolyard Habitat Program of the National Wildlife Federation www.nwf.org/schoolyardhabitats Wetland Education www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/education Girl Scouts' Water Drop Patch Project www.epa.gov/adopt/patch USGS Water Science for Schools http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu Tools for Watershed Partnerships Catalog of Federal Funding Sources for Watershed Protection www.epa.gov/owow/ watershed/wacademy/fund.html Know Your Watershed Tool Kit www.ctic.purdue.edu/catalog/watershedmanagement.html Starting Up: A Handbook for New River and Watershed Organizations Contact the River Network at 1 -800-423-6747 The Clean Water Act: An Owner's Manual Contact the River Network at 1 -800-423-6747 EPA's Watershed Academy www. epa. gov/watertrain EPA's River Corridor and Wetland Restoration Web Site www. epa. gov/o wo w/wetlands/restore EPA's Watershed Information Network www. epa. gov/win Center for Watershed Protection www.cwp.org Izaak Walton League of America's Save Our Stream Program www.iwla.org/sos A Message from the Administrator Christine Todd Whitman I believe water is the biggest environmental issue we face in the 21!t Century in terms of both quality and quantity. In the 30 years since its passage, the Clean Water Act has dramatically increased the number of waterways that are once again safe for fishing and swimming. Despite this great progress in reducing water pollution, many of the nation's waters still do not meet water quality goals. I challenge you to join with me to finish the business of restoring and protecting our nation's waters for present and future generations. National Monitoring Day tober 18, 2002, volunteer Storing programs, water quality __,_.icies, students, and the public to test waters across the nation in r.i *^/\. i A • r.i /^i Water Act. Everyone will test for temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and turbidity and enter their results into a national database. Data will be publicly available at www.yearofcleanwater.org. National Water Monitoring Day will also feature educational events, water festivals, and wide- spread press coverage. This is not a complete mention of available resources, and mention of these products does not constitute endorsement by EPA. For a more extensive list of resources, visit the Watershed Information Network at www.epa.gov/win;view the Office of Water publications list at http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/owrccatalog.nsf; or call the Water Resource Center at 1 -800-832-7828. United States Environmental Protection Agency Office of Water (450 IT) EPA840-F-02-001 • April 2002 In celebration of the 30th anniversary x^ of the Clean Water Act, EPA presents 'RCrt*- Adopt Your Watershed! * 2002 * THE YEAR OF CLEAN WATER www.epa. ------- ^Precipitation What is a watershed? No matter where you live, you live in a watershed. A watershed is the land area that drains to a single body of water such as a stream, lake, wetland, or underground aquifer. Watersheds come in many different sizes: a few acres might drain into a small stream or wetland; a few large rivers might drain into an estuary where fresh water and salt water mix. The actions of people who live in a watershed affect the health of the waters that drain through it. Whenever rain falls or snow melts, chemicals, fertilizers, sediment, and other pollutants from the land are washed into lakes, streams, wetlands, and rivers. To achieve healthy watersheds, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) needs the help of citizens like you! e call the earth the water planet :ause water covers 70 percent of its aurface. Americans depend on clean _ drink, to irrigate crops, and to run industries. Water resources provide opportunities such as fishing and swimming, and wetlands provide protection from floods. Rivers, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands also provide critical habitat for wildlife. Estuaries serve as birthplace 1 nursery for most saltwater fish and she1" ' " Watershed Boundary Hillside What is the Adopt Your Watershed Campaign? To encourage stewardship of the nation's water resources, EPA challenges citizens and organiza- tions to join the Agency and those who are working to protect and restore our nation's valuable rivers, streams, wetlands, lakes, ground water, and estuaries. What do we mean by adoption? "Adoption" means any citizen-based effort—large or small—to restore or protect a watershed, river, lake, wet- land, or estuary. Examples of adop- tion activities include: • \6kmteeringanonitoiwater quality • Sterdingtamdrains • Organizing stream cleanups • Planting trees along eroding streambanks • Hosting a water festival • Working with local government agencies and others that make water quality decisions How can I find out what groups are active in my community? Go to www.epa.gov/adopt to view EPA's on-line national catalog of organizations involved in pro- tecting their local water bodies. This on-line resource showcases opportunities to get involved in activities in your community, such as monitoring, cleanups, and restoration projects. With more II groups currently registered for the Adopt Your Watershed database can now update their information online at http://yosemite.epa.gov/water/ adopt.nsf/update. It's important that the information in the database is accurate, so we strongly encourage all groups to update their records! You can also e-mail changes to: group_adopt@epa.gov. The Adopt Your Watershed web site also has a form for groups interested in receiving a Certificate of Appreciation for their efforts. than 700 active volunteer monitoring groups, 12,000 classroooms, and more than 3,000 water- shed alliances working nationwide, there are many opportunities to join an organized effort in your community. If you don't have Internet access, call EPA's Water Resource Center at 1 -800-832-7828 and ask for information on watershed groups in your county. Join Our National Catalog of Watershed Partnerships! Do you represent an organization that should be listed? Here's how you can be included in our catalog of watershed partnerships to network with others and receive periodic updates. Go to www.epa.gov/adopt and click on "Join Now." Or send the following application to: Adopt Your Watershed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (450IT) Washington, DC 20460 e-mail: group_adopt@epa.gov fax:202-566-1326 Group/School Name Organization Contact Address City State ZIP County Tribal Nation Internet Address_ E-mail Telephone Fax Number of Volunteers (approximate) If your group is a local chapter of a regional or national organization, what is its name? Organization type: Select the one that most closely describes the group. Watershed Alliance/Watershed Council Volunteer Monitoring Youth Education Project/Program Restoration/Conservation Project Other: (Please specify) Watershed or water body name: ------- |