United States Office of Water EPA 840-B01-004
Environmental Protection (4501F) Winter 2001
Agency	

v»EPA Watershed Events

A Bulletin on Sustaining Water Resources and Ecosystems

In This Issue...

This issue of Watershed Events
features stories from the Watershed
Assistance Grants (WAG) program.
WAGs support the organizational
and institutional development of
locally led watershed partnerships.
At the National Watershed Forum,
continued funding of the WAG
program was a key recommendation.

On The Inside...

National Watershed Forum
Recommendations	2

Watershed Restoration Report	3

The Watershed Assistance Grants
Program	4

Fish Passage Barriers Being Removed
in Rogue River Basin	4

Raised Awareness on the Ruidoso....6

Alaskans Coming Together	7

Blackfoot Challenge WAG	8

Friends of Lake Wingra	9

Citizen-Based Partnership Launches
Mercury TMDL	11

WAG Helps Woonasquatucket River
Council Take Off	12

Building the Union River Watershed
Coalition	13

New Resources 	14

Events	15

Wetlands Photo Contest	16

Delegates participated in small,
facilitated discussion groups orga-
nized around 19 specific issues. The
Forum focused on collaborative
approaches—getting industry and
environmentalists, local, state, and
federal agencies, scientists, and
citizens to work together to solve
the problems facing our nation's
watersheds. Geographically, politi-
cally, and culturally diverse people
shared their visions and explored
new directions to sustain water-
sheds into the next century.

See Targeted Recommendations,
page 2

National Watershed Forum
Discussion Groups

Funding and Technical Support
Structure and Function of
Watershed Groups
Participation and Partnerships
Education and Outreach
Leadership and Facilitation
Source Water Protection
Instrearn Flows
Data Collection, Monitoring,
Research Needs, and
Information Management
Watershed Planning and
Evaluation
Smart Growth
Habitat

Endangered Species
Jurisdiction and Coordination
Total Maximum Daily Loads

A final Forum report is available at
www.epa.gov/owow/forum/.

National Watershed Forum Results in
Challenging Recommendations

From June 27 to July 1, about
500 community leaders and
senior decision makers from
around the country attended the
National Watershed Forum in
Arlington, Virginia. The Forum
resulted in a tidal wave of energy
and good ideas for protecting and
restoring watersheds and for
supporting the work of local water-
shed initiatives. Several federal
agencies, in partnership with
CFI2M Hill, provided funding to
make the Forum possible.

Linda Fisher, Deputy Administrator
for EPA, delivered the keynote
address at the National Watershed
Forum in June.

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Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Targeted Recommendations

The cross-cutting recommendations
(listed in the box below) represent
only a fraction of the Forum's
valuable recommendations. Other
recommendations directed to
Congress, the private sector,
federal agencies, state governments,

local watershed groups, tribes,
foundations, and others are
presented in the body of the Forum
report, which is available on-line at

www.epa.gov/owow/fomm.
A companion document,

Discussion Group Proceedings,

includes a summary of the
discussion groups" deliberations.
Additional information about the
National Watershed Forum can be
obtained from Connie Lewis, the
Meridian Institute, 970-513-8340,
e-mail: connielewis@merid.org.

The National Watershed Forum ga\'e local watershed groups,
the private sector, and government leaders a unique opportunity
to discuss how to improve the nation s waters and how to work
together to accomplish identified goals.

Cross-Cutting Recommendations at the National Watershed Forum

The following cross-cutting recommendations were highlighted during the plenary sessions or developed
simultaneously in numerous discussion groups. Many need to be implemented in a coordinated manner by
several organizations or agencies.

•	Develop a flexible, integrated, and diversified national watershed strategy/delivery system.

•	Create a quasi-public (non-federal) Watershed Trust Fund/Endowment to be used for restoration, protection,
advocacy, education, management, facilitating local needs, research, and other priorities.

•	Provide additional support for subsequent Regional Watershed Roundtables and future National Watershed
Forums.

•	Conduct a Tribal Watershed Forum.

•	Implement a national media campaign to highlight the importance of and foster general awareness of
watershed issues.

•	Establish a "clearinghouse" to provide one-stop shopping that would enhance the flow of information about
watershed protection and restoration, technical assistance and funding, and other relevant data.

•	Undertake a concerted effort to address the issue of defining "a healthy watershed," encompassing
chemical, physical, biological, hydrological, social, meteorological, elements, etc., and considering the
interrelationships between all elements.

Provide federal coordinators to assist local watershed partnerships.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page3

Watershed Events

Patty Scott, Editor

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

This Issue's Contributors

Suzanne Easton, consultant with
River Network

Dick Wisner, Ruidoso River
Association. Inc.

Bob Shavelson, Cook Inlet Keeper

Tina Bernd-Cohen, Blackfoot
Challenge

David Shiffert, Friends of Lake Wingra

Yvonne Rutford Heimer, St. Louis
River Watershed TMDL Partnership

Jenny Pereira, Woonasquatucket
River Watershed Council

Amy Scott, Union River Watershed
Coalition

Watershed Events provides updated
and timely information to professionals

and others interested in the
development and implementation of the
watershed approach and in achieving
watershed goals. The watershed
approach focuses on mitigating the
primary threats to ecosystem and

human health and involving
stakeholders to take action in an
integrated, holistic manner. Please
direct any questions or comments to

Patty Scott
U.S. EPA
Ariel Rios Building (4501 F)
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
scott.patricia@epa.gov

To be added to the Watershed Events
mailing list, simply send your name and
address to

Becky Schmidt
Tetra Tech, Inc.
10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340

Fairfax, Virginia 22030
schmire@tetratech-ffx.com

Protecting and Restoring America's
Watersheds: Status, Trends, and Initiatives in
Watershed Management

This new interagency report published by EPA's
Office of Water describes watershed-related
activities—projects, programs, and coordination
efforts—implemented in the recent past. It explores
the successes of selected case studies and
evaluates programs and partnerships
representative of the larger national efforts under
way to move stakeholders toward a watershed
management approach. The report focuses on
areas that many stakeholders believe still need
improvement—the building and sustaining of
partnerships, coordination among government
agencies, watershed monitoring and
assessment data, and evaluations of project
success.

To obtain copies, call the National
Environmental Service Center for Environmental
Publications, 800-490-9198. Ask for EPA publication
840-R-00-001. The report is also posted on OW's "What's New"
web site at www.epa.gov/ow/new.html(www.epa.gov/owow/protecting).

Five-Star Restoration Challenge Grant Application Due March 1, 2002

Projects must include a strong on-the-ground wetland, riparian, or coastal habitat
restoration component. Applicants must demonstrate that measurable ecological,
educational, social, and/or economic benefits are expected to result from the
completion of the project.

Preference will be given to projects that (1) are part of a larger watershed or community
stewardship effort, (2) include specific provisions for long-term management and
protection, and (3) demonstrate the value of innovative, collaborative approaches to
restoring the nation's waters. Application materials are available on the NFWF web site
at www.nfwf.org/programs/5star-rfp.htm.

The National Association of Counties, the
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and
the Wildlife Habitat Council, in cooperation
with EPA, the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration, and other
sponsors, are soliciting applications for the
Five-Star Restoration Challenge Grant
Program. The Five-Star Program provides
modest financial assistance on a
competitive basis to support community-
based wetland, riparian, and coastal
habitat restoration projects that build
diverse partnerships and foster local
natural resource stewardship through
education, outreach, and training activities.
In 2001, 60 projects received grants of on
average $10,000. About 230 applications
were received.

The stars in "Five-Star" are the partners,
funders, and/or participants necessary to
complete the project. They include schools
or youth organizations, local or tribal
governments, local businesses or
corporations, conservation organizations or
local citizens groups, state and federal

resource management agencies, and foundations or other funders. Projects must
involve diverse partnerships of ideally five organizations that contribute funding, land,
technical assistance, workforce support, and/or other in-kind services.

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Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Watershed
Assistance
Grants

Sought WAG

by Many

WATERSHED

ASSISTANCE
GRANTS

In 1998 the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency teamed up with River
Network, a nonprofit organization that
specializes in organizational skill
building, to establish the Watershed
Assistance Grants (WAG) program.

The goal of the program is to build the
capacity of existing or new watershed
partnerships. Grassroots organizations
have long appealed for a dedicated
source of funding to support their
organizational development and long-
term effectiveness.

The WAG program continues to gain in
popularity, and demand for funding far
exceeds available funds. More than 500
requests, totaling $13 million, have been
received. To date, 80 projects have been
funded, totaling $1.2 million. This issue of
Watershed Events highlights just a few
of the outstanding local efforts that have
benefited from the WAG program.
For more information about WAGs, visit
River Network's web site at
www.rivernetwork.org.

Fish Passage
Barriers Being
Removed in
Rogue River
Basin

Once among the most abun-
dant salmon habitats in the
Northwest, the Rogue River
and its tributaries have suffered
from decades of dam building,
deteriorating water quality, and
increased urbanization. The Rogue
Basin covers 3.2 million acres in
southern Oregon, including seven

smaller watersheds united by their
common drainage into the spectacu-
lar and scenic Rogue River, which
runs from Boundary Springs, near
Crater Lake, to the ocean.

Responding to the federal listing of
the Coho salmon as "threatened"
under the Endangered Species Act
and proposed listings of steelhead
trout and Chinook salmon, in the
mid-"90s Oregon developed and
implemented the "Oregon Plan for
Salmon and Watersheds," a state-
wide effort to mitigate the existing
threats to Oregon's threatened
anadromous fish populations. Under
the state's program, watershed
councils were formed and charged
with completing Assessments/
Action Plans. At the same time, the
Rogue Basin Steering Committee
brought the basin councils together
to work with cities, counties, and
state agencies in a collaborative
manner to develop a region-wide
perspective on watershed manage-
ment issues. In 1998 the group
reorganized and changed its name to
the Rogue Basin Coordinating

In the Rogue River Basin, WAG
funds paid for a facilitator and a
project coordinator for the Fish
Access Team, a collaborative
effort to remove or modify barriers
to fish passage. The team
accomplished three necessary
steps toward the removal of
barriers:

1.	A comprehensive assessment
of all man-made barriers to
anadromous fish passage
within the Basin.

2.	Prioritization of the barriers
based on developed criteria.

3.	Development of a strategic
plan for the removal or
modification of fish barriers.

Thanks to the team's hard work,
Oregon awarded the Coordinating
Council an unprecedented
$1 million grant to implement the
strategic plan. The state praised
the team's efforts as a model for
the entire state.

Council. Among seven priority issue
areas, the Council chose to focus
much of its energy on fish barri-
ers—the myriad bridges, dams, and
culverts that prevent the necessary
passage of these fish in their normal
life cycle and one of the major
obstacles to the recovery of threat-
ened species.

By the end of the Watershed Assistance Grant, the Fish Access Team had
identified a total of 412 fish barriers and completed a comprehensive
strategic plan to guide the process of barrier removal. More than 1,000
barriers have now been identified.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page 5

The Rogue River project is truly a
major success story for the WAG
program. The grant made
convening of the Fish Access
Team possible and the Team's
achievements have gone well
beyond all expectations. The
$1 million grant from the state is
testimony to an exceptionally well-
conceived, well-planned, and
well-implemented program that
seems not to have alienated any
major interest groups. With a
technically strong plan and
sufficient funding, the long-term
potential of this program looks
impressive, particularly the
potential to have a measurable
impact on the recovery offish
species.

The WAG Grant and the
Fish Access Team

The Council initiated the Rogue
Basin Fish Access Team, a collabo-
rative effort created to facilitate the
removal or modification of man-
made barriers to anadromous fish
passage. The five groups that serve
on the Access Team are the Rogue
River Basin Fish Passage Technical
Team, Gravel Pushup Dam Team,
Pilot Integration Team, Rogue Basin
Technical Team, and Rogue Basin
Coordinating Council. In addition to
the seven watershed councils
represented by the Council, these
participating teams include a number
of state and federal agencies
already working together on various
aspects of fish passage barriers.
WAG funds allowed the Council to
hire two consultants—one to serve
as facilitator and the other as project
coordinator for the Access Team.

The Team achieved a clear consen-
sus on its goals and priorities and
accomplished the necessary first
steps toward the removal of fish
barriers.

By the end of the Watershed
Assistance Grant, a total of 412
barriers had been identified. The
team had also completed a 5- to 10-
year prioritization of barriers to be
removed or modified and a compre-
hensive strategic plan to guide the
process. The group secured two
grants from the state and a local
foundation to begin project work.
Then early this year the Coordinat-
ing Council received an unprec-
edented grant of $ 1 million from the
Oregon Watershed Enhancement
Board to support full implementation
of the strategic plan. In providing
the funds, the Board distinguished
the Fish Access Team effort as a

model program that could be
replicated by groups around the
state. This funding has enabled
project implementation and staffing.
The Fish Access Team will provide
oversight in the coordination of the
initial 15 projects. In addition, a
regional monitoring program has
been folded into the plan to follow
and document the effects of these
projects as they are conducted.

The Council attributes the smooth
flow of project activity to the
composition and hard work of the
Fish Access Team and skillful
facilitation. With representation from
10 key agencies and organizations
and considerable expertise covering
the range of needs, the group had
access to the information and skills
needed to make the project work.
"The participants selected were
extremely intelligent and committed
to the outcome... and also very
cooperative and respectful of each
other," according to facilitator
Tatiana Bredikin. They also got to
know one another well during the
intensive 6-month process, to which
Bredikin also credits the groups"
success. The time commitment was
considerable, and participants were
willing to attend meetings as well as
complete assignments outside the
structured periods. According to the
Council, the facilitator and project
coordinator, funded by the WAG
funds, provided outstanding support
and facilitation for the Team to

move the process forward at all
times. Cleary, the group had many
characteristics in its favor—the size
of the group was optimum, skills
were exceptional, the goals were
clear, participants were knowledge-
able and professional, and a skilled
facilitator kept the group on task.
This article is an excerpt from
"Watershed Assistance Grants:
Building Capacity of Community-
Based Watershed Partnerships," a
report by Suzanne Easton, consult-
ant for River Network. It was edited
with the permission of River
Network.Visit ww.rivemetwork.org/
howwecanhelp/wageval99.pdf for the
full text of the report.

Leveraging the successful work by the Fish Access Team,
made possible by the WAG, the Coordinating Council
received an unprecedented $1 million grant from Oregon
to implement the strategic plan to improve fish access.

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Page6

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Raised

Awareness on the
Ruidoso

Ruidoso is a small tourist town
high in the mountains
.of south-central New
Mexico. The area is best known as
the backdrop for the famous "Lin-
coln County Wars"' of the late 19th
century that spawned the infamous
legend of Billy the Kid. The town
was appropriately named after the
swashbuckling Ruidoso River, which
means "noisy water' in Spanish.

From its heyday as a high-quality
cold-water fishery, the Rio Ruidoso
is now listed by the New Mexico
Environment Department as one of
the most degraded streams in the
state. Unbridled development is
choking the stream with sediment
and nutrients, compounded by
unnecessary diversions by the city
and by the blase attitude of the local
citizenry. In the summer of 1996, all
of these factors combined to dry up
the river during the peak of the
tourist season.

Five years later, the water in the Rio
Ruidoso not only is much cleaner,
but also is once again flowing freely.
Best management practices are now
helping to curb sediment and other
runoff pollutants. A local grassroots
watershed group, The Ruidoso
River Association, Inc., which was
not even in existence in 1996,
deserves credit for rescuing the
troubled river. How did they
accomplish this in so little time?

Volunteers received T-shirts

Under a campaign built around the
slogan "It's the Economy, Stupid,"
the association quickly convinced
local officials that the Rio Ruidoso
was the city's "golden goose" and to
let it die would be economic suicide.
Thanks to a new legal agreement,
the city will not divert surface water
from the river when low flows
threaten its health.

Under a campaign built around
the slogan "It's the Economy,
Stupid," the association quickly
convinced local officials that the
Rio Ruidoso was the city's
"golden goose" and to let it die
would be economic suicide.

They did it by following Franklin
D. Roosevelt's advice: "Convince
me first and then go out and get
a lot of people to put pressure
on me." That is to say, they did
their homework and exploited
a win-win situation. They dissemi-
nated information, combated
misunderstanding, and recruited
new members to gain widespread
public support.

A $6,500 Wastershed Assistance
Grant received from EPA
through River Network in 1999
ignited the organization. The
grant gave the Association
the wherewithal to sponsor a first-
ever watershed-wide convention,
which included all of the major
stakeholders. The convention
gave the Association instant
and much-needed visibility and
credibility.

At the same time, the Association's
efforts have mobilized the commu-
nity and engendered genuine con-
cern for the river's water quality.
The organizational capacity of the
Association has directly benefited.
Membership has more than doubled
from fewer than 500 to more than
1,000. The annual river cleanup,
which 8 years ago drew just a dozen
volunteers, drew 766 volunteers and
more than 100 local sponsors last
summer!

The Ruidoso River Association
believes that the Watershed Assis-
tance Grant it received in 1999
made all of the difference.

For more information, contact Dick
Wisner, Executive Director, Ruidoso
River Association, Inc., RO. Box
2945, Ruidoso, NM 88355. Phone:
505-257-9494; e-mail:
noisywtr@lookingglass .net.

Volunteers removed debris from the
river.; allowing the water to once
again flow freely.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page?

Alaskans
Coming Together
to Preserve Their
Water and Way of
Life

Clean water and healthy
fisheries are the lifeblood of
Alaska's people. Alaska's
Cook Inlet watershed is a rich and
productive ecosystem that covers
47,000 square miles in the south-
central part of the state. Watershed
protection is no small task on a scale
this big, but thanks to a Watershed
Assistance Grant, people throughout
south-central Alaska are joining
together to protect the vast water-
shed.

The Cook Inlet watershed is the
most populated region in Alaska, but
despite the number of residents, the
watershed is blessed with natural
beauty and abundance. However, a
population increase of 600 percent
over the past 30 years has substan-
tially magnified pressures on the
watershed's salmon streams,
wetlands, and coastal estuaries.

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In 1999 Cook Inlet Keeper, a
citizen-based organization dedicated
to protecting the watershed, re-
ceived a Watershed Assistance
Grant. Their objective was to build
and strengthen a network among
organizations, Native tribes, local
governments, and agencies to

realize a common
goal of habitat and
water quality
protection.

To make this happen,
Cook Inlet Keeper
formally partnered
with the University of
Alaska, local water-
shed councils, and
Soil and Water
Conservation Districts
to create Alaska's
only unified and
scientifically defen-
sible citizen-based
water quality monitor-
ing program. To date,
more than 300
citizens have been
trained to collect habitat and water
quality data on more than 100
freshwater and estuarine sites
throughout the Cook Inlet basin.

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Page 8

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Cook, from page 7

In March 2000 a 4-day
Clean Water Act workshop held
in collaboration with River Network
attracted more than 40 participants
from across Alaska, including
a majority from remote Alaska
Native villages. Participants
walked away from the workshop
with the necessary legal and
regulatory tools to take water
quality protection into their
own hands.

Because of support from the
Watershed Assistance Grants
program, the momentum continues
to grow toward a more effective
and enduring partnership to
protect Cook Inlet watershed
and its way of life.

For more information
about the Cook Inlet Watershed
Network, contact Bob Shavelson,
Cook Inlet Keeper, P.O. Box 3269,
Homer, AK 99603. Phone 907-235-
4068; e-mail: bob@inletkeeper.org.
Be sure to check out the Cook Inlet
monitoring web site at
www. inletkeeper. org/
monitoring .htm.

Blackfoot
Challenge WAG
Helps Protect
Fishery and
Respond to
Drought

Tn anticipation of summer 2000
drought conditions, the Blackfoot
Challenge began the difficult
task of preparing an emergency
drought response plan in the
Blackfoot River Basin of western
Montana. In developing the plan,
they examined how various water
conservation measures could help
over both the short term and the
long term to reduce water with-
drawals and enhance the protection
and restoration of habitat. The
drought response plan is based on
the premise of ''shared sacrifice"
among all water users—irrigators,
domestic users, fishing outfitters and
floaters—with a goal that all water
users cut back use in dry years to
achieve water savings to keep
stream flows at acceptable levels.

With the help of a Watershed
Assistance Grant, what started as
an emergency response plan
evolved into a water resources
management program for the
Blackfoot. The strengthened
organizational capacity led to
greater stakeholder involvement in
the Blackfoot watershed-wide
planning effort. In 2001 Blackfoot
Challenge increased the number of
participants and broadened the types
of participants to include not only
irrigators but also recreational users,
a golf course, and homeowners. To
raise awareness, they used the
media and other outreach tools
effectively to reach targeted water
users.

In August 2001, as the Blackfoot
River's flow dropped to 680 cubic
feet per second, irrigators, anglers,
fishing guides, and cabin owners
came together in an unprecedented
alliance intended to curtail the
river's use and protect its valuable
fishery. The level of commitment to
conservation along the Blackfoot
and the cooperative spirit have
been tremendous. A broad coalition
numbering nearly 100 landowners

Save the Date!

May 17-21, 2002
Holiday Inn
SunSpree Resort
Asheville, North Carolina

Plan to join River Network
Partners and guests for
the 3rd Annual River
Rally....a comprehensive
conference that offers
workshops for all those
working to understand,
restore, and protect rivers.

Workshops will cover leadership development, organizational
development, watershed science, self-care, and much more. Asheville
offers many wonderful activities, including more than 30 art galleries
and rafting on the nearby French Broad, Nantahala, and Pigeon
rivers. Rally brochures will be mailed in early January. On-line
registration begins January 2, 2002. Visit the River Network site at
www.rivernetwork.org for the most current information.

Conversion from flood irrigation to wheel line sprinkler
irrigation improved crop efficiencies and in-stream flows
in the Blackfoot watershed.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page 9

Computerized soil moisture
probes allow ranchers and
agencies to work together on
water efficiencies.

and water users promised to curtail
withdrawals for irrigation as long as
the Blackpool's flow remained
below 700 cubic feet per second,
the minimum needed for fish to
survive with warm temperatures.
Commercial fishing guides, private
anglers, and other recreational users
of the river voluntarily reduced their
time on the river during low flows
and high temperatures.

In developing a collaborative
approach to drought strategy, they
successfully minimized adverse
impacts on fishery resources and
provided for an equitable distribu-
tion of water reductions . Even
though the river was under stress,
no fish kills occurred. The volun-
tary and government-imposed
closures increased flows in certain
streams, saving valuable trout
populations. By integrating Mon-
tana m-stream rights within a
broader drought response effort,
the Blackfoot Challenge provided an
incentive for greater stakeholder
participation. Most significantly, they
created a cooperative community-
wide effort that went beyond the
often divisive issue of water rights.

The shared sacrifice plan for water
conservation in the Blackfoot during
drought years has dramatically
benefited in-stream flows. These
efforts can serve as a model
approach for other watersheds
faced with severe drought condi-
tions affecting both fisheries and
irrigation.

For more information, contact Tina
Bernd-Cohen, Executive Director,
Blackfoot Challenge, P.O. Box 563,
Helena, MT 59624. Phone: 406-442-
4002; fax: 406-442-4114; e-mail:
blkfootchallenge@aol.com.

Friends of Lake
Wingra Promote
a Healthy Lake
Through an
Active
Watershed
Community

Lake Wingra provides an oasis
of water, woods, and wet
lands within the city of
Madison, Wisconsin. Although about
three-quarters of the watershed is
highly urbanized, the shoreline of the
140-hectare lake is largely undevel-
oped. Surrounding parks and natural
areas help create an urban oasis
with a wide range of recreational
and aesthetic values.

Urbanization in the watershed and
impacts on the lake's wetlands,
however, have degraded water
quality. Effects include excessive
storm water runoff and its associ-
ated loadings of sediments, nutrients,
chloride, and heavy metals; high
bacterial levels that threaten swim-
ming; and introductions of normative
species. Studies have also identified
the need for improved coordination
among the various agencies involved
in lake and watershed management
and for more effective citizen
involvement in management issues.

To address these needs, the Friends
of Lake Wingra (FOLW) was
founded in 1998 with the mission "to
promote a healthy Lake Wingra
through an active watershed com-

see Friends, page 10

Thanks to support from the WAG,
the Blackfoot Challenge
monitored and evaluated
conservation measures and in-
stream flows. As part of this effort,
they

*	Worked one-on-one with
irrigators to evaluate irrigation
systems, calculate water flow
rates, and assess long-term
water conservation.

*	Installed flow and thermograph
stations; monitored water flows
and temperature fluctuations,
bull trout health, and other
indicators of the status and
health of the fisheries.

*	Initiated a pilot project involving
11 large irrigators to study
irrigation usage and assess
overwatering and possible
efficiencies based on crop,
rotation, and soil.

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Page 10

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Friends, from page 9

inunity." FOLW, in partnership with
Edgewood College, recently re-
ceived a Watershed Assistance
Grant to build organizational capac-
ity and increase citizen involvement.
The goals of this project are to build
the watershed partnership's capac-
ity to sustain effective communica-
tion, collaboration, and action.

FOLW used the grant to hire a
Watershed Coordinator and
strengthen its organizational
capacity.

Over the past year, the Watershed
Assistance Grant has provided
crucial support for a variety of
FOLW activities, including the
following:

•	An annual Lake Wingra Water-
shed Community Fair, attracting
about 200 people and providing
workshops and exhibits on issues
such as storm water utilities,
yard care, composting, outdoor
lighting, road salt use, and runoff.

•	Rain garden workshops, provid-
ing detailed information on the
construction of bioretention
systems that capture rainwater
that would otherwise become
harmful runoff.

•	A successful campaign to stencil
"Dump No Waste, Drains to
Lake Wingra" on storm water
drains and to distribute fliers to
local homes and businesses.

•	Collaboration with teachers and
students in area schools, includ-
ing the development of public
outreach exhibits.

•	Cosponsorship of water quality
monitoring and lake cleanup
events at Dane County's "Take a
Stake at the Lakes" week.

This year the Capital Community
Citizens presented FOLW with an
"Orchid Award" for its environmen-
tal contributions to Dane County.
Meanwhile, the organization con-
tinues to work on its development
and funding. FOLW recently
received a Wingra Watershed
Poetry Residency grant, which will
fund a local poet in two local
elementary schools. Working with
area neighborhood associations,
FOLW will produce a self-guided
"Better Lawns & Gutters" water-
shed tour for the summer of 2002.

FOLW recently held a Wingra
Watershed Partner Meeting for all
interested agencies, groups, and

citizens to set the course for the
future. In the next 18 months,
FOLW expects that grant funding
from the Wisconsin Department of
Natural Resources, along with
generous support from Edgewood
College and area neighborhoods,
will allow them to coordinate the
participation of agencies, groups,
and citizens in developing a com-
prehensive storm water manage-
ment plan. This plan will define the
roles and responsibilities of multiple
partners and interests so that they
can better understand the water-
shed as a functioning system and
improve the effectiveness of future
management actions.

For more information, contact
David Shiffert, Watershed Coor-
dinator, Friends of Lake Wingra.
Phone: 608-663-2838; e-mail:
dshiffertSiedgcwood.edu; web
site: http://danenet.wicip.org/folw.

Adopt Your Watershed
Offers On-Line Updates

In 1998 EPA worked with a
number of partners to establish a
national, on-line database of
watershed groups, volunteer
monitoring organizations,
schools, and others working to
protect and restore our nation's
water resources. Currently more
than 3,000 organizations are
listed in EPA's database.

Organizations not in the
database can sign up on-line at
www.epa.gov/adopt. Click on
"Join Now" and fill out the form.
(Please be sure to include your
URL.) To update records, groups
now have the option of going on-
line at yosemite.epa.gov/water/
adopt.nsf.

Friends of Lake Wingra celebrated their many
accomplishments, including an environmental
award for their contributions to Dane County.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page 11

Citizen-Based
Partnership
Launches
Mercury TMDL
Process

Tlhe St. Louis River is one of
the largest river systems in
Minnesota and is the largest
U.S. tributary to Lake Superior. The
watershed drains nearly 3,500
square miles in northeastern Minne-
sota and northwestern Wisconsin,
emptying into Lake Superior at its
western tip. Mercury concentrations
currently exceed the state's water
quality standards, and as a result the
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency
(MPCA) has identified the river as
an impaired waterbody under the
Clean Water Act. Mercury levels in
the water column and fish consump-
tion advisories in the river basin are
the criteria on which the impairment
is based. To restore the waterbody
to its designated use as a fishable
water, a Total Maximum Daily Load
(TMDL) will be established to
reduce mercury loadings.

In 1998 a group of stakeholders in
the watershed gathered to begin this
TMDL process. This stakeholder-

driven structure gave citizens and
industries in the watershed the
unique opportunity to work with
regulatory agencies from the start.
In 1999, the group, which calls itself
the St. Louis River Watershed
TMDL Partnership, was awarded a
Watershed Assistance Grant. The
group received the grant to provide
administrative support to the Part-
nership to sustain its efforts and to
support public outreach to ensure
broad public participation in the
development of the mercury TMDL.

During the first year, the Partnership
met a number of crucial goals,
including the creation of a board of
directors. This important step

•	Solidified the stakeholder group
into a structured partnership with
balanced representation from a
range of diverse interests.

•	Led to the development and
acceptance of bylaws and an
organizational structure crucial to
sustaining the Partnership.

•	Ensured continuation of the steps
toward TMDL development, by
establishing a steering committee
charged with day-to-day
activities.

The Partnership succeeded in
establishing a stakeholder group
that has broad representation in
the watershed and brought
these stakeholders to the table
with a common goal. It is this
crucial step that has often stalled
TMDL development efforts
around the country; the St. Louis
River Watershed TMDL
Partnership made it past this
critical hurdle and is proceeding
cooperatively in the TMDL process.

Representation is divided into
five sectors: nongovernmental
organizations (environmental
groups), municipal/local/tribal
government, business/industry,
education/research, and public-at-
large. In addition, representatives
from EPA, MPCA, and the Wiscon-
sin Department of Natural Re-
sources have been involved with the
Partnership since its beginning.

The St. Louis River Watershed
TMDL Partnership is currently
finalizing a funding agreement with
the MPCA to continue in a coopera-
tive role with the agency in TMDL
development. Because much of the
mercury pollution is from atmo-
spheric sources, the parties will need
to determine how atmospheric
deposition, particularly deposition
from national and global sources,
will be addressed as part of the
TMDL.

For more information about the
St. Louis River Watershed TMDL
Partnership, contact Yvonne Rutford
Heimer, Administrative Coordinator,
P.O. Box 3465, Duluth, MN 55803.
Phone:218-525-6540.

TMDL Listening Sessions

This fall, EPA conducted a series of public listening sessions around
the country to solicit stakeholder perspectives on key issues
associated with the Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) program. Under
the Clean Water Act, the TMDL program provides a framework for
identifying and cleaning up polluted waters. There are an estimated
20,000 polluted waterways nationwide. On July 16,2001, the Agency
announced an 18-month review of the TMDL program. EPA will use the
information received at these public listening sessions as it considers
changes to the regulations that govern the TMDL program, with a view
toward proposing modifications in mid-2002. Hundreds of interested
citizens have attended the meetings held thus far in Oklahoma City,
Atlanta, Sacramento, and Chicago. For more information, visit
www.epa.gov/owow/tmdl/meetings/meetings.html.

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Page 12

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

WAG Helps
Woonasquatucket
River Council
Take Off

Tlhe Woonasquatucket River
in northwestern Rhode Island
is approximately 18 miles long
with a 51- square-mile watershed.
Despite its small size, the watershed
represents a diverse geographic
area, originating in a rural setting
and flowing downstream through
urban communities, including
Providence, the second largest city
in New England. Approximately 8.5
miles of the river are impaired due
to a combination of impacts, includ-
ing dioxin contamination, combined
sewer overflows, nonpoint source
pollution, and contaminated sedi-
ment—problems that reflect the
river's industrial legacy.

With a Watershed Assistance
Grant, the Woonasquatucket River
Watershed Council (WrRWC), a
volunteer, community-based organi-
zation in Rhode Island, hired a full-
time Director to develop and
implement education and restoration
goals for the watershed. The
WRWC community members, who
had worked successfully to

A recently completed
"Asset Map " high-
lights the

Woonasquatucket's
significant historical,
cultural, and natural
resources.

The Woonasquatucket River origi-
nates in a rural setting.

earn the American Heritage River
designation for the Woonasquatucket
back in 1998, formed the Council to
initiate watershed-wide discussions
about local and regional priorities for
the River.

Recent Highlights

Over the past year, the WRWC
has been working with local, state,
and federal partners to develop an
action plan for the Woonasquatucket
that reflects residents" priorities
and concerns. The Plan is in its final
stages and is scheduled to receive
final approval from the Rhode Island
Watershed Coordinating Council
in December.

Working collaboratively with the
Rhode Island Department of
Environmental Management (RI
DEM), the WRWC identified 36
riparian buffer restoration opportu-
nities along the Woonasquatucket.
Leveraging funding from the
National Fish and Wildlife Founda-
tion under a Five-Star Restoration
grant, WRWC will implement one
of these restoration projects along
the river at a Brownfield Showcase
site in Providence. The WRWC is
also working with RIDEM on a
wetland survey. So far, researchers
have identified 160 destroyed
wetlands and 250 degraded sites in
the watershed.

In the coming year, the WRWC
will partner with RID EM on a
Greenspace Planning Grant to help
local residents identify and map
local natural, cultural, and recre-
ational resources and plan for local
and regional greenway linkages of
these assets. The WRWC recently
completed an "Asset Map'1 of the
watershed that highlights the
Woonasquatuckct's significant
historical, cultural, and natural
resources. The map represents a
broad collaborative effort among
community members, local offi-
cials, and state and federal agen-
cies. The WRWC will distribute the
map throughout the watershed.

As one of two original watershed
pilots in the state, the WRWC
is forging new ground in Rhode
Island, where the watershed

§ approach is a relatively new

? concept. In the months since
receiving this critical grant from

3 River Network, the WrRWC

^ .

4" has made significant progress

| in promoting the Council as a vital,
active community-based entity,

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page 13

pursuing goals and objectives that
will revitalize and enhance the river
as an asset to communities and
promoting awareness to a compre-
hensive, watershed approach to
restoration.

For more information, contact Jenny
Pereira, Director, Woonasquatucket
River Watershed Council, 532
Kinsley Avenue, Providence, RI
02909. Phone: 401-861-9046;
e-mail: jpereira2@yalioo.com.

Building the
Union River
Watershed
Coalition
Through WAG
Support

r | me story of the Union River in
southeast Maine is not unlike

so

A thi

the stories of many other
rivers throughout New England.
Historically, this river knit the
region's communities together
through the timber and tanning
industries, which used the waterway
as a highway and a power source.
Modern times eliminated this direct
need for the river's resources,
disconnecting towns, organizations,
agencies, and landowners from the
river and from each other. But in the
fall of 1999, the Union River Water-
shed Coalition (URWC) came
together to change this sense of
isolation and to reawaken commu-
nity awareness throughout the 500-
square-mile watershed

The Coalition's first year focused on
identifying stakeholders, establishing
a regular meeting schedule, develop-

ing Union River Watershed is committed to raising
community awareness of the need to protect the river.

ing a mission statement, and initiat-
ing projects. At the end of that year,
the Coalition realized that to become
a self-sustained entity, effectively
working to protect the watershed, it
needed to strengthen its capacity.
This would require reaching out to
identified stakeholders and writing a
strategic plan. In January 2001, the
Union River Watershed Coalition
received a Watershed Assistance
Grant to accomplish this important
task. Now, after eight months of
preparation, the Coalition is about to
hold its final strategic planning
retreat to make key management
decisions.

Additional outreach made possible
by the WAG has helped shape a

Through the WAG program, the

URWC has had the opportunity to

•	Reach out to stakeholders.

•	Find out what projects are in
prog ress.

•	Address specific data or technical
assistance needs.

•	Assess the use of the river and its
lakes.

•	Educate the community about
important watershed issues,
including resources, history,
industries, and development
trends.

•	Gain a sense of public sentiment
toward the river and the concept of
a watershed coalition.

monitoring program and baseline
study that will begin in 2002-2003.
It has also aided volunteer recruit-
ment and allowed the Coalition
to establish priorities for both
its organizational structure and the
projects it will support.

By focusing on strategic planning
and organizational development,
the URWC has demonstrated its
commitment to raise community
awareness of this incredible
resource and to monitor and
publicize the watershed's health
over the long term. A stronger
coalition has attracted financial and
community support for oral history
projects and fostered a significant
collaboration between the Coalition
and College of the Atlantic to
develop a watershed-based planning
and policy curriculum and outreach
program. Through the network
and resources of the URWC,
stakeholders and citizens are
working together to address threats
to the Union River watershed.

For more information, contact
Amy Scott, Coordinator, Union
River Watershed Coalition, 105
Eden Street, Bar Harbor, ME 04609.
Phone: 207-288-5015; e-mail:
ascott@ecology.coa.edu.

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Page 14

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

New Resources

Capacity Building

A new web site designed by the
Nonpoint Source Capacity Building
and Funding Work Group provides
watershed groups and local govern-
ments links to technical tools for
scientific support, engineering
support, information technology,
assistance with legal issues, project
management, outreach, and planning
support. It also provides links to
resources for activities such as
permitting, enforcement, contracting,
fundraising, and resource manage-
ment. Check out the new site at
www.epa.gov/owow/nps/capacity/
index.

BASINS Version 3.0

A new version of BASINS is now
available on CD-ROM. BASINS, a
powerful tool for managing water-
sheds, is a multipurpose environ-
mental analysis system that inte-
grates a geographic information
system (GIS), national watershed
data, and state-of-the-art environ-
mental assessment and modeling
tools into one convenient package.
BASINS 3.0 introduces two new
water quality models (PLOAD and
SWAT), several new tools, updated
national datasets, and an on-line help
feature. For more information, see
www.epa.gov/ost/basin.

Linking Girls to the Land Web Site

EPA is hosting a new "Linking Girls
to the Land" web site, designed to
provide information to Girl Scouts
and their leaders, as well as re-
source agencies. Linking Girls to
the Land brings together federal
natural resource agency profession-
als to offer conservation and
outdoor environmental education
projects for Girl Scouts. Other

federal partners include the Forest
Service, the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service, and the
National Park Service. Visit the new
site at www.epa.gov/owow/adopt/
linkgirls. Read about a recent event
that Govenor Whitman participated
in with local Girl Scouts!

Volunteer Wetlands Monitoring

EPA Wetlands Division has devel-
oped Volunteer Wetlands Monitor-
ing: An Introduction and Re-
source Guide, which is intended to
serve as an introduction to why and
how people monitor wetlands. The
document is available on-line only at
www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/
monitor/volmonitorhtml.

Guiding Principles for Con-
structed Treatment Wetlands

Guiding Principles for Con-
structed Treatment Wetlands:
Providing Water Quality and
Wildlife Habitat offers assistance
for developers, municipalities, and
others interested in using con-
structed wetlands as treatment
systems, including information on
legal, technical, and policy issues. If
planned properly, treatment wetlands
offer opportunities to regain some of
the natural functions of wetlands
and to offset losses in wetland
acreage. The booklet is available by
calling the Wetlands Helpline at 800-
832-7828. (Ask for EPA 843-B-00-
003.)

Proceedings from the Sixth
National Volunteer Monitoring
Conference, "Moving Into the
Mainstream," held April 26-29,
2000 in Austin, Texas are available
on-line at www.epa.gov/owow/
volunteer/proceedings/sixth/toc.html.

Earth Force/GREEN
Launches Exciting New
WebSite *

The Earth Force/GREEN site at
www.green.org allows users to
enter, analyze, and share their
data as they work to improve
their local water resources. The
site is adaptable to virtually any
water monitoring protocol and
includes hundreds of free
resources, including interactive
maps that allow users to plot
their monitoring site, data
sheets, simple monitoring
guides, and data analysis tools.
Through the site, users can keep
an ongoing project log to track
their progress and share pictures
and stories of theirgroup in
action.

The site is also customizable to
allow water monitoring
organizations the ability to track
and download data from all of
their volunteers. Check it out at
www.green.org. If you want
information about customizing
the site for your water monitoring
organization, contact Earth
Force at 703-519-6864. GREEN,
which stands for Global Rivers
Environmental Education
Network, offers an entire family
of integrated monitoring and
action tools on the site as well.

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Winter 2001

Watershed Events

Page 15

Events ...

January 2002

26	Tooltime for Streams: Northern Virginia Stream Confluence, Sterling, Virginia. This event is meant to provide

attendees with useful tools to help make the streams of Northern Virginia clean and full of life. Contact Piedmont
Environmental Council. Phone: 540-347-233.

February 2002

3-5	Inorganic Contaminants Workshop, San Diego, California. This 3-day workshop provides a unique opportunity to

explore and exchange the latest information on inorganic contaminants. Contact Susan Gunzner, American Water
Works Association. Phone: 303-347-6210; e-mail: sgunzner(S)awwa.org .

23-27	Watershed 2002, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Sponsors: The Water Environment Federation (WEF) and the Florida Water

Environment Association with the support of the USEPA Office of Water. Contact: Greg McNelly, WEF, 601 Wythe
Street, Alexandria, VA 22031. Phone: 703-684-2400, e-mail: gmcnellytS? wef.org, web site: www.wef.org/Conferences.

18-22	Conference on Stormwater and Urban Water Systems Modeling, Toronto, Ontario. This annual international confer-

ence is a forum for professionals from across North America and overseas to exchange ideas and experience on current
practices and emerging technologies. Contact Lyn James. Phone: 519-767-0197; e-mail: info(S>chi.on.ca; web site:
www.chi.on.ca/conferencetoronto.html.

25-Mar	1 Adventures in Erosion Education, 33rd Annual IECA Conference and Expo, Orlando, Florida. The International

Erosion Control Association (IECA) hosts the world's largest gathering of erosion control professionals. Contact
IECA, P.O. Box 774904, Steamboat Springs, CO 80477. Phone: 970-879-3010; web site: www.ieca.org. Receive a $25
discount for registering on-line.

27-Mar 1 5th National Mitigation Banking Conference, Washington, DC. Mitigation bankers will meet with regulators and critics
to discuss mutual problems and emerging markets. This is the one conference that connects the entire industry and
becomes a how-to for resolving banking problems. Contact Terrene Institute. Phone: 703-548-5473; e-mail:
terrinst(S)aol.com; web site: www.terrene.org.

26-Mar	1 11 th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species, Alexandria, Virginia. Sponsor: US Army Engineer Research

and Development Center. E-mail: profedge(S?renc.igs.net; web site: www.aquatic-invasive-species-conference.org.

March 2002

11-13	Watershed Management to Meet Emerging TMDL Environmental Regulations Conference, Fort Worth, Texas. This

Conference and Exhibition will serve as a forum to review current research practices, and state-of-the-art theory
dealing with watershed management issues as they relate to emerging environmental regulations. Contact Brenda West,
ASAE, 2950 Niles Road, St. Joseph, MI 49085. Phone: 616-428-6327; e-mail: west(S?asae.org.

18-20	11th Annual Southeastern Lakes Management Conference, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Contact Barbara Wiggins.

Phone: 828-254-5644; web site www.don~anderson.com/selalms2002.

25-26	Tugis 2002: 15th Annual Geographic Information Science Conference, Towson, Maryland. Sponsors: The Center for

Geographic Information Sciences at Towson University and Towson University's Department of Geography and
Environmental Planning. The theme this year is "Thinking Outside of the Box: New GIS Users and New GIS
Applications." Visit the web site at http://cgis.towson.edu/tugis2002 for more information.

April 2002

13-17	National Planning Conference, Chicago, Illinois. The American Planning Association is sponsoring this conference that

brings together more than 5,000 planners, elected officials, and civic activists to share practices. For more information,
visit www.planning. org.

25-27 Third Annual Natural Stream Channel Design Summit, State College, Pennsylvania. Contact Lesley Moore.

Phone: 814-768-9584; e-mail: lesley.moore(S?canaanvi.org.

May 2002

17-21	River Rally 2002, Asheville, North Carolina. River Network's third annual River Rally offers workshops for all those

working to understand, restore, and protect rivers. Online registration begins January 2, 2002. Visit the River Network
web site at www.rivemetwork.org. Contact Robin Chanay. Phone: 202-364-2550; e-mail: riverrally(S)rivemetwork.org.

13-15	AWRA's Annual Spring Conference "Coastal Water Resources ", New Orleans, Louisiana. This conference will address

a wide range of interdisciplinary concerns about coastal, estuarine, and inland systems. AWRA, 4 West Federal Street,
P.O. Box 1626, Middleburg, VA 20118. Phone: 540-687-8390; web site: www.awra.org.

20-23 Third National Water Quality Monitoring Conference, Madison, Wisconsin. Sponsor: National Water Quality

Monitoring Council. The theme for this year's conference is "Water Quality Monitoring 2002: Building a Framework
for the Future." Web site: www.nwqmc.org.

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Page 16

Watershed Events

Winter 2001

Calling All Photographers!

Wetlands Photo Contest

The Environmental Protection Agency's Wetlands Division is
sponsoring a wetlands photography contest focusing on images
that show the functions and values of wetlands. We are seeking
high-quality photographs of wetlands in different regions of the
country and at different seasons of the year. The winning
photographs will be displayed at the National Wetland Awards
ceremony in Washington, DC, in May 2002 and will be used to
produce an EPA wetland posterand publication.

For more information and details on how to submit your
photograph, please goto www.epa/owow/wetlands/photocontest.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please
call our Wetlands Helpline at 800-832-7828.



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Views expressed in Watershed Events do not necessarily reflect those of EPA. In addition, mention of commercial
products or publications does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by EPA.

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