\ e> ^r Adopt Your Watershed i b fir L ti^i yULif www.epa.gov/adopt ' : $miM*i Kfisj ------- 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 aquifer (an underground layer of water). Watersheds come in many different sizes. A few acres might drain into a small stream or wetland, or 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 ^Precipitation Watershed Boundary Hillside the health of the waters that run through it. Rainfall and snowmelt wash chemicals, fertil- izers, sediment, and other pollut- ants from the land into water bodies. To achieve healthy water- sheds, EPA needs the help of people like you! e call the earth the water planet because water covers 70 percent of its surface. Americans depend on clean water to drink, to irrigate crops, and to run industries. Water resources provide opportuni- ties such as fishing and swimming, and wetlands provide protection from floods. Rivers, lakes, estuaries, and wetlands also provide critical hab- itat for wildlife. Estuaries serve as birthplace and nursery for most saltwater fish and shellfish! What is the Adopt Your Watershed campaign? To encourage stewardship of the nation's water resources, EPA challenges citizens and organizations to join the Agency and others 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 participating in a citizen-based effort—large or small—to restore or protect a watershed, river, lake, wetland or estuary. Examples of adoption activities include • Volunteering to monitor water quality • Marking or stenciling storm drains • Organizing stream cleanups • Planting trees along eroding streambanks • Hosting a water festival / ^M II groups currently registered for the I • Adopt Your Watershed database _L_ _^^_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: 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. • Working with local government agencies and others that make water quality decisions • Tracking the development and implementation of Total Maximum Daily Loads (i.e., pollution budgets) and watershed plans How can I find out what groups are active in my community? Go to www.epa.gov/adopt. This online catalog showcases opportunities to get involved in activities in your community. With hundreds of active volunteer monitoring groups, 12,000 classrooms, and more than 3,000 watershed alliances working nationwide, there are many opportunities to join an organized effort in your community. If you don't have Internet access, you can call EPA's Water Resource Center at 202-566-7729. Ml.blte.ld. •!*• 1_«K . . " - - -. . ••"» ------- How Can I 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 that require little or no watering, fertilizers or pesticides in your yard. 4. Do not over apply fertilizers. Consider using organic or slow release fertilizers. 5. Recycle yard waste in a compost pile and use a mulching mower to leave grass clippings on the lawn. 6. Use surfaces like wood, brick or gravel for decks, patios and walkways. They allow rain to soak in and not run off. 7. Never pour used oil or antifreeze into the storm drain or the street. Visit www.earth911.org to find out where you can go to dispose of hazardous wastes properly. 8. Pick up after your dog, and dispose of the waste in the toilet or the trash. 9. Drive less—walk or bike instead. Many pollutants in our waters come from car exhaust and car leaks. 10. Adopt your watershed! Learn more at www.epa.gov/adopt. Tools to Help You Adopt Your Watershed Programs and Activities for Students Adopt-A-Watershed www.adopt-a-watershed.org Educating Young People About Water www.uwex.edu/erc/eypaw Exploring Estuaries for Teachers and Kids www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries/kids Making Ripples: How to Organize a School Water Festival www.groundwater.org Project WET (Water Education for Teachers) www.projectwet. org River of Words Poetry and Art Contest www.riverofwords. 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 EPA Watershed Patch Project www.epa.gov/adopt/patch/certiftcates USGS Water Science for Schools ga,water,usgs,gov/edu This is not a complete list of available resources, and mention of these Web sites, organizations or products does not mean that EPA endorses them. For a more extensive list, please visit EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds Web site at www. epa.gov/owow or call the Wetlands Help Line at 1-800-832-7828 or EPA's Water Resource Center at 202-566-1729. Tools for Watershed Partnerships EPA's Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds www.epa.gov/owow Low Impact Development Center www.lowimpactdevelopm en t. org The Clean Water Act: Online training course www. epa.gov/watertrain/cwa EPA's Watershed Academy Web www. epa.gov/watertrain Catalog of Federal Funding for Watershed Protection www.epa.gov/watershedfunding W.A.T.E.R.S.- Water Assessment, Tracking and Environmental Results is an exciting new tool that allows mapping of data from many databases so it can be viewed at the same time. W.A.T.E.R.S. helps users find basic answers to questions like "How healthy is my watershed?" "Should I drink the water?" "Should I eat the fish?" www.epa.gov/waters Total Maximum Daily Loads www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl STORET—EPA's principal repository for water quality, biological and physical data www.epa.gov/storet Smart Growth Network www.smartgrowth.org/sgn Center for Watershed Protection www.cwp.org Nonpoint Source Education for Municipal Employees (NEMO) www.nemo.uconn.edu Join the National Catalog of Watershed Partnerships I To learn how your group can be included in EPA's online catalog of watershed partnerships, go to www.epa.gov/adopt. Click on "Join Now." The Adopt Your Watershed Web site also has a form for groups interested in receiving a certificate of appreciation for their efforts. Volunteer Monitoring Across the country, trained volunteers mon- itor the condition of their local waters. Their efforts help provide quality data and build local environ- mental stewardship. For a national directory of volunteer water moni- toring organizations and other information on how you can get involved, visit www.epa.gov/owow/ monitoring/volunteer. On this site, you can also learn about World Water Monitoring Day—a worldwide event celebrated every October 18th— that affords students, teachers, families. Scouts, and others an opportunity to use a simple kit to test the quality of local streams, lakes and bays. Adopt Your Watershed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (4501T) 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW Washington, DC 20460 e-mail: adopt@epa.gov Web site: www.epa.gov/adopt EPA840-F-05-004 July 2005 Recycled/Recyclable • Printed with Vegetable Oil Based Inks on 100% Postconsumer, Process Chlorine Free Recycled Paper ------- |