Healthy
          Watersheds
                                                                      ^-^^
Healthy  Watersheds   News
                                                                            Issue 2: Summer 2012 // EPA-841-N-12-002
Spokane Tribe Works to Maintain and Restore
Healthy Watersheds

While much attention is paid to efforts being made to clean up
the nation's impaired waters, less publicity is given to critical
efforts made to protect healthy waters and prevent future
impairments. Many tribes are working in partnership with federal
and state agencies to protect and restore their healthy watersheds,
with particular focus on protecting important fish and wildlife
habitat.
The Spokane Indian Reservation sits approximately 50 miles
northwest of Spokane, Washington and covers 157,376 acres. The
tribal lands contain healthy aquatic ecosystems and high quality
land. Recognizing this, the tribe has prioritized protecting aquatic
ecosystems and providing healthy habitat on its lands.
Flow Restoration
In the early 1900s, McCoy Creek was diverted from its original
path to be used to irrigate  farmland, causing water levels in
McCoy Lake to drop. The Spokane tribe has worked with the
Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) and the Natural Resources Conservation
Service to restore McCoy Lake to its natural depth. The tribe
purchased land and water rights to route the creek back to its
original channel, nearly doubling the flow of water into McCoy
Lake. In order to restore and enhance the stream's riparian habitat,
the tribe built livestock exclusion fences and planted thousands of
native trees and shrubs along the stream corridor. As a result of the
restoration efforts, a healthy mountain snow pack, and abundant
spring rainfall, the lake rose nine feet within two years of the
creek's restoration.
Land Acquisition for Protection
The tribe has worked with the Bonneville Power Administration
(BPA) and the Northwest Power & Conservation Council on
land acquisition projects designed to protect and rebuild fish and
wildlife populations affected by federal hydropower development
in the Columbia River Basin.  Land parcels are prioritized for
acquisition based on their  riparian and wildlife value and their
contribution to contiguous acreage. The tribe recenty completed a
3,926-acre acquisition that will protect wildlife habitat, including
important salmon habitat. "This collaborative project fits perfectly
with BPA's commitment to restore or protect critical habitat that
helps preserve the Pacific Northwest as the special place that it
                                              McCoy Lake. Photo credit: Brian Crossley
                    is," said Greg Delwiche, Vice President of Environment, Fish and
                    Wildlife at BPA. "So far, BPA has protected more than 300,000
                    acres across the Northwest through the agency's mitigation
                    efforts."
                    Successful protection efforts such as these land acquisitions
                    demonstrate how important tribal partnerships are for protecting
                    and restoring healthy watersheds.

                    EPA Releases  Healthy Watersheds Technical
                    Document
                    In February 2012, EPA released
                    the new technical document
                    Identifying and Protecting Healthy
                    Watersheds: Concepts, Assessments,
                    which gives state scientists
                    and managers an overview of
                    the key concepts behind the
                    Healthy Watersheds Initiative.
                    It includes descriptions of
                    integrated assessment approaches
                    to identifying healthy watersheds,
                    assessments of healthy watershed
                    components, management options, and assessment tools and
                    datasets. The document serves as a resource for states and others
                    interested in conducting healthy watersheds assessments and
                    implementing holistic, healthy watersheds protection programs.
                    The document is available at www. epa. gov/healthywatersheds.
                                                                                                        Summer2012

-------
States Use 319 Grants to Maintain
Healthy Watersheds

State Nonpoint Source Management Programs rely on Clean
Water Act Section 319 grants to help reach their watershed
improvement goals. Section 319 funds have been crucial for the
development and implementation of nonpoint source pollution
control projects across the U.S. The funds enable states to work
collaboratively with federal, state, local, and private sector groups
to leverage resources and reach common goals. Section 319 grants
are often used to fund restoration projects that address polluted
runoff generated by agricultural and forestry activities. The grants
are also used to protect riparian areas, shorelines, and wetlands.
Use of grants for protection will continue to be supported under
the revised 319 grant guidelines.
A variety of healthy watershed projects can be supported by
Section 319 grant funding. Many states already use their grant
funds to protect high quality waters, to conduct assessments to
identify healthy waters, and to restore waters in watersheds that
are, for the most part, healthy. Examples include:
•  In 2007, Virginia used funds to support their statewide
   Healthy Waters Strategy Pilot. The project identified healthy
   watersheds and ecologically healthy streams, communicated
   the location of these healthy areas, and identified threats
   from changing land use patterns (see www.dcr.virginia.gov/
   healthywaters).
•  Between 2008 and 2011, Alaska used funds to assess instream
   flow on Holgate Creek to support efforts to protect and
   maintain anadromous fish and wildlife habitat.
•  In 2002, 2006, and 2009, Kentucky used funds to develop
   watershed-based plans for healthy watersheds that drain to
   Outstanding Natural Resource Waters or Outstanding State
   Resource Waters. The plans call for increased protection from
   land use change in healthy areas and identify areas in need of
   restoration to maintain the healthy status.
    Kentucky's Red River Gorge is listed as a Wild River and an Outstanding
   State Resource Water, giving it greater levels of protection against land use
  change. Section 319 funds were used to develop a watershed protection plan
          for Red River Gorge. Photo Credit: Kentucky Division of Water.
•  In 2011, Maryland used funds to increase protection of Tier
   II high quality waters in two counties. Funding was also used
   to support biomonitoring of at-riskTier II streams in order to
   assess remaining assimilative capacity.
•  In 2008, Pennsylvania used funds to monitor Exceptional
   Value and High Quality waters. The monitoring was
   conducted to support complementary efforts preventing future
   impairment to these high quality waters.

States  Present on Healthy Watersheds
Assessments and Protection  Programs at
the 2012 National Water Quality Monitoring
Conference

The National Water Quality Monitoring Council hosted its 8th
National Water Quality Monitoring Conference on April 30 —
May 4, 2012 in Portland, Oregon. A session titled "Identifying
and Protecting Healthy Watersheds" provided an opportunity to
share and discuss innovative assessment techniques that are being
implemented around the country. The following are synopses of
the talks given by each of the session's four speakers.
Karen Larsen, from California's State Water Resources Control
Board, discussed  California's newly initiated Healthy Streams
Partnership. Initiated in 2010, the Healthy Streams Partnership
promotes efforts to identify and protect healthy streams. The
partnership supports hypothesis-driven data collection, analysis,
and reporting to provide integrated information for resource
managers at the state and local levels. In collaboration with
EPA's  Healthy Watersheds Initiative, the partnership is using
existing data to perform an integrated assessment of watershed
health through careful examination of the six healthy watershed
attributes: biotic  condition, landscape condition, natural
disturbance, hydrology, ecological processes,  and chemical and
physical condition.
Ian Chisholm, from Minnesota's Department of Natural
Resources, presented the Watershed Assessment Tool (WAT)
developed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
with support from the University of Minnesota (see www.dnr.
state.mn.us/watershed  tool/). This web-based tool uses
a systems approach to consider watershed processes and evaluate
watershed health. The presentation demonstrated how results of
the analysis encourage a comprehensive view of watershed health.
Using WAT, health assessments for hydrology, geomorphology,
biology, connectivity and water quality were each completed for
all of Minnesota's eighty one major watersheds.
NeilKamman, from Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources,
discussed the importance of protecting high quality aquatic
ecosystem components and their supporting landscape network
for maintaining healthy watersheds in Vermont. An integrated
assessment of watershed health was performed to identify areas
characterized by high biological, chemical, and physical integrity,
Page 2 // Summer 2012

-------
and areas possessing intact processes. Maps that were created to
display the final results of the healthy watersheds assessment can
be used to identify priority areas for protection (see water.epa.
gov/polwaste/nps/watershed/upload/hwi- watersheds-ch4.pdf).
Neil also discussed ways that Vermont is merging the concepts of
healthy watersheds and recovery potential, a complementary EPA
initiative (see www.epa.gov/recoverypotential).
Christine Conn, from Maryland's Department of Natural
Resources (MDNR), gave an overview of Maryland GreenPrint
(see www.greenprint.maryland.gov). Maryland GreenPrint is
a pioneering web-enabled map showing the relative ecological
importance of every parcel of land in the state. GreenPrint shows
where Targeted Ecological Areas (TEAs) occur and how the
programs within Maryland State government work together to
protect their most ecologically valuable areas. TEAs are the lands
and watersheds ranked as the most ecologically valuable in the
state ("best of the best")  and were identified through a modeling
analysis performed by an interdisciplinary team of natural resource
biologists and land conservation managers  at MDNR. TEAs
include large blocks of forests and wetlands, wildlife and rare
species habitats, aquatic biodiversity hotspots, forests important
for protecting water quality, high value coastal ecosystems, lands
important for climate change adaptation, and areas supporting
important fisheries. Another key principle underlying Maryland
GreenPrint is the development of land conservation strategies
that are based on transparent, scientifically defensible criteria,
designated geographic targets, clearly defined objectives and
measures of success.


Virginia  Study Examines Effects of Flow
Alteration on Aquatic  Life

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality's Office of
Surface and Ground Water Supply Planning, in collaboration with
EPA's Healthy Watersheds Initiative and other federal, state, non-
governmental organizations, and academic partners, explored the
effects of instream  flow alteration on aquatic ecosystems. Findings
from this effort include preliminary data that will contribute to
the development of numeric instream flow criteria protective of
aquatic life for use  in evaluating water use permits.
This study used the principles of the Ecological Limits of
Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA) framework, a well-established
holistic approach to defining environmental flow needs  (see
conserveonline.org/workspaces/eloha/). Environmental  flows
describe the hydrological components (e.g., flow magnitude,
frequency, duration, timing, and rate of change) required to
sustain freshwater and estuarine ecosystems, as well as human
livelihood and well-being.  Understanding how flow alteration
affects aquatic life and water availability may assist Virginia in
adequately meeting both social and environmental flow needs.
Environmental flow relationships were developed by examining
current and  baseline (reference) flow components or metrics
and aquatic  biological data within the state. Alteration to the
natural flow regime can be caused by effluent discharges, water
withdrawals, dams, urbanization, and agricultural activities.
Determining the ecological consequences of flow alteration
requires associating specific ecological responses to the observed
flow alterations.
Key findings from  this preliminary study include: 1) most flow
metrics reflected a  10  - 50% alteration from baseline values to
present day values; 2)  various fish and macroinvertebrates were
sensitive to changes in flow that affected their habitat or feeding
area; and 3)  distinct flow metric responses were found by stream
type (e.g., perennial and stable base flow) and regionally (coastal
plain/non-coastal plain).
Source: Tetra Tech, Inc., 2012. "Virginia Ecological Limits of
Hydrologic Alteration (ELOHA): Development of Metrics of
Hydrologic Alteration."
                                                                                                        Summer 2012 // Page 3

-------
Chesapeake Bay Program Takes Action to
Protect Healthy Watersheds

The Chesapeake Bay Program's Maintain Healthy Watersheds
Goal Implementation Team (GIT4) was established for two
reasons: (1) to keep watersheds throughout the Chesapeake Bay
Watershed healthy by identifying, promoting, supporting, and
tracking the implementation of sustainable land use practices in
urban and suburban areas; and (2) to maintain reduced nitrogen,
phosphorus, and sediment loadings to the  Chesapeake Bay and
the tidal portions of its tributaries by identifying, promoting,
supporting, and tracking the implementation of sound land use
practices.
GIT4 activities in 2012 include:
•  In March, GIT4 hosted a Science and Technical Advisory
   Committee (STAC) workshop titled "The Beneficial Effects
   of Healthy Watersheds on Pollutant Fate and Transport".  The
   purpose of the workshop was to discuss  whether there is a
   scientific basis for changing the Chesapeake Bay Watershed
   Model's nutrient and/or sediment retention and loading
   rates for natural landscape features.  Retention and loading
   rates of forests, streams, and wetlands were considered based
   on attributes such as land use, flow  path, and hydraulic
   connectivity. A STAC workshop report  is due to be completed
   later this summer.
•  In keeping with the principle that "you  get what you measure,"
   GIT4 is initiating a project to periodically communicate the
   identity, health status, health threats, and protection status of
   state-identified healthy watersheds.  The  project is based on
   existing data and existing monitoring efforts underway in the
   Chesapeake Bay Watershed.
•  The GIT4 Communications Workgroup is creating a set
   of key messages and actions to support GIT4 objectives
   when communicating with key audiences. In addition,
   the workgroup is attempting to incorporate a "Maintain
   Healthy Watersheds" track into the 2012 Chesapeake
   Watershed Forum. The Forum is an annual event hosted by
   the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay that serves as a regional
   training opportunity for local  watershed and conservation
   organizations, as well as local governments in the Bay region.
For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Program's
Maintain Healthy Watersheds Goal Implementation Team,
visit: http://www.chesapeakebay.net/groups/group/maintaining
healthy watersheds goal implementation team.

EPA Releases Fact Sheet on the Economic
Benefits of Protecting Healthy Watersheds

Healthy watersheds provide a variety of ecological services,
including clean water for healthy aquatic ecosystems, habitat
for fish and wildlife, high quality drinking water, recreational
opportunities, and reduced impacts from floods. Yet, healthy
watersheds and the services they provide are often taken for
granted. Once compromised, some of these services can be
impossible to recreate.
In a new fact sheet released by the Healthy Watersheds Initiative,
EPA describes the economic benefits of protecting healthy
watersheds. Using examples from peer-reviewed literature and
studies, the fact sheet includes case studies that demonstrate
how protecting healthy watersheds can reduce capital costs for
water treatment plants and reduce damages to property and
infrastructure due to flooding, thereby avoiding future costs.
Additional examples in the fact  sheet show how protecting
healthy watersheds can generate revenue through property value
premiums, recreation, and tourism.
The fact sheet is available at www.epa. gov/healthywatersheds.
 New water filtration plant  I
 Watershed Conservation
                             58-10 billion
 Wastewater treatment
 Forest buffers
 Conventional wastewater

 Wetlands construction
                     $1.5 billion
                       $3.10/lb N
P
                     $0.47/1000 gallons
}                 Capital and operating cost
                 to filter drinking water in
                 New York City
                 (2006 dollars)


I 58.56/lb Nitrogen    |
              I   Chesapeake Bay nitrogen
litrogen             reduction


          ns
              L.  Average wastewater
                 treatment costs
| $3.24/1000 gallon
 Hanson, Craig et al. 2011. Forests for water: exploring payments for watershed services
 in the US south. World Resources Institute Issue Brief, Issue 2, Ppl5.
            Watershed protection is less expensive than building new "grey"
                   infrastructure. See the Economic Benefits of Protecting
                         Healthy Watersheds fact sheet for more details.
    For More Information
    For more information or questions about EPA's Healthy
    Watersheds Initiative, visit www.epa.gov/healthywatersheds
    or contact Laura Gabanski: Gabanski.Laura(a)epa.gov
                                            Disclaimer

              Healthy Watersheds News is produced by the U.S.
       Environmental Protection Agency. Mention of commercial
          products, publications, or Web sites does not constitute
  endorsement or recommendation by EPA, and shall not be used
               for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

-------