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:

-------