United States
               Environmental Protection
               Agency
Office of Water (WH-556F).
Office of Wetlands, Oceans,
and Watersheds (A-104 F)
EPA843-F-93-001 z
March 1993
              WETLANDS  FACT SHEET #26
              Wetlands and  Watersheds
      Water resource protection measures
need to be better coordinated to reflect the inter-
connected natureof water resources and to make
current efforts more efficient and more effec-
tive. Wetlands and traditional  surface and
ground water quality protection  programs
should be integrated with each other as well as
with other resource management programs, such
as flood control, water supply, protection of fish
and wildlife, recreation, control of stormwater,
and nonpoint source pollution.
Background
      The quality of the waters of the United
States, including wetlands and other aquatic
resources, is related to the quality of the envi-
ronment adjacent to these waters. Current pro-
grams have historically been organized around
separate goals.   Given that the larger  point
  A watershed, also called a drainage
  basin, is the area in which all water,
sediments, and dissolved materials flow
 or drain from the land into a common
 river, lake, ocean or other body of water

sources of water pollution are now identified
and controlled to some degree, remaining wa-
ter quality problems require an approach which
addresses the interconnections between water
resources and the land, air, and water environ-
ment surrounding the resources. A watershed
based approach to water and wetlands protec-
tion considers the whole system, including other
resource management programs  addressing
land, air, and water, to successfully manage
problems or solutions for a given aquatic re-
source. It should be noted that a watershed
encompasses not only the water resource, but
   also the surrounding land from which the water
   drains.  This can be an area as large as the
   Mississippi River drainage basin, or as small as
   a backyard.

   Current Activities

         EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and
   Watersheds (OWOW) is actively pursuing a Wa-
   tershed Protection Approach within the Office
   of Water and with other Federal agencies. One
   of OWOW's activities was to convene a national
   conference in March, 1993, bringing watershed
   management experts from across the nation to-
   gether to discuss methods and  directions for
   watershed approaches. OWOW's Wetlands Di-
   vision incorporates a  watershed approach in
   much of its work with other agencies, States, and
   organizations. Current activities include inte-
   grating a watershed approach into Federal flood-
   plain management activities, funding State wa-
   tershed projects through State Wetland Protec-
   tion Grants and Nonpoint Source Grants, and
   supporting a series of national and regional
   meetings on wetlands and regional watershed
   planning.
                  PROTECTION
   • An Integrated, Holistic Approach •
     For more information, contact the EPA Wetlands Hotline at 1-800-832-7828 *
* contractor operated

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