Frequently Asked Questions about Watershed Restoration Action Strategies

 

1.    What is a Watershed?
2.    How does one identify watersheds, their size, and their scale?
3.    What is a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS)?
4.    What are the goals of the WRAS Program?
5.    What are the services that DNR brings to the development of a WRAS?
6.    What are the components of a Watershed Strategy?
7.    Who is eligible to apply for a WRAS Partnership with DNR?
8.    How is a WRAS developed?
9.    How will I know if my watershed qualifies for a WRAS?
10.  A Brief History of the WRAS Program.

1.    What is a Watershed?

Where Ever You Go You’re In A Watershed
A watershed is the area of land, from ridge to ridge, catching precipitation which subsequently drains and seeps into marsh, stream, river, lake, or ground waters. Homes, farms, ranches, forests, small towns and big cities make up watersheds. Watersheds cross county, state, and international borders. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. Small ones are nested within larger ones. Some are relatively small, the Corsica (40 m²) for example, is nested within a larger watershed, on the eastern shore of Maryland and that watershed is nested within the large Chesapeake Bay watershed (64,000 m²).

wa•ter•shed n. 1. A ridge of high land dividing two areas that are drained by different river systems. Also called water parting. 2. The region draining into a river, river system, or other body of water. 3. A critical point that marks a division or a change of course; a turning point: “a watershed in modern American history, a time that... forever changed American social attitudes” (Robert Reinhold). [Probably translation of German Wasserscheide : Wasser, water + Scheide, divide, parting.] Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

watershed (\Wa"ter*shed`) n. [Cf. G. wasserscheide; wasser water + scheide a place where two things separate, fr. scheiden to separate.] 1. The whole region or extent of country which contributes to the supply of a river or lake. 2. The line of division between two adjacent rivers or lakes with respect to the flow of water by natural channels into them; the natural boundary of a basin.> Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.

2.    How does one identify watersheds, their size, and their scale?

A system for identifying and numbering watersheds has been developed in the United States by the United States Geological Service. Through this system all U.S. watersheds have a proper name and a corresponding number called a Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC), (see below).

USGS HUC
Description	Proper Name	Address (HUC)
Region	Ohio River	05
Subregion	Wabash, Patoka and White Rivers	0512
Basin	Wabash River	051201
Subhead	Vermilion River	05120109
Watershed	North Fork Vermilion	0512010909
Subwatershed	Lake Vermilion	051201090905

While this represents the federal watershed identification number, the state of Maryland has a different numbering system (but of course!). In the WRAS Program, we work at the “Maryland 8-digit watershed level”. This is the same as the “federal 12-digit watershed level”, or, as in the above example, it is described as the subwatershed, named Lake Vermilion, with the 12-digit HUC address. There are 127 Maryland 8-digit watersheds (or Federal 12-digit watersheds).

Even the “Maryland 8-digit watershed level” is quite large to successfully address with a comprehensive watershed management plan. As a WRAS is developed, stakeholders typically begin to focus on even smaller sub-sub watersheds, where on the ground protection or restoration work can actually demonstrate a water quality or habitat improvement.

Map of "Maryland 8-digit watershed level"

Click on the map for a larger picture (110KB)

3.    What is a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS)?

A WRAS is a short, clear, comprehensive watershed plan that reflects specific goals, objectives, and commitments to preserve and restore habitat and water quality. A completed WRAS provides a natural resource based management plan for the public, watershed organizations, land trusts, and federal, state, and local agencies, pointing them to specific areas and specific issues that if implemented or addressed will result in measurable environmental improvement.

A completed WRAS targets implementation, restoration, mitigation, protection, or preservation efforts. Local governments (the applicants may be municipal or county), lead the process to develop the Strategy. It is developed through a methodical and careful process of data acquisition, followed by a review and assessment of the data and a prioritization of problems identified. Then, approaches are selected that will provide protection or restoration to those prioritized sites. The results are documented in the final watershed strategy, the WRAS. The development process is explorative and iterative and involves multiple levels of local and state government involvement and other stakeholder participation and buy-in. To see completed WRAS documents, please see: Watershed Strategies and Support Documents.

In a completed WRAS, a number of specific natural resource management objectives are identified and listed by order of priority, e.g.: establish a 200 foot wide, three mile long, riparian buffer, set a 10% impervious cover cap in the watershed, maintain or reduce an existing pollutant loading levels from a sub watershed by 10%, permanently preserve 50% of existing open space, restore 100 acres of wetlands in the watershed, develop a septic system management strategy for a given sub-watershed or community, preserve 100 acres through acquisition of land or perpetual conservation easements, develop an incentive program that leads to habitat preservation or improved water quality, or increase the naturally reproducing trout population by 20% within a sub-watershed. Note that, importantly, these objectives are quantified and implementation can be measured with follow-up monitoring and tracking.

Additionally, a WRAS institutionalizes some of the management objectives through a "program change", e.g.: creating, as a permanent financing mechanism, a utility for storm water or septic system management, revising comprehensive plans or ordinances to include the priorities established in the WRAS, setting a 10% impervious cover cap in the watershed through policy or code changes, strengthening and enforcing permanent conservation easements pursuant to the Forest Conservation Act and local "designated open space", or clustering ordinances, or establishing zoning for low impact development or environmentally sensitive development designs that will preserve and restore habitat and water quality.

4.    What are the goals of the WRAS Program?

The key goal of a WRAS and the WRAS Program is to protect and restore water quality and habitat. The WRAS Program is dedicated to supporting the efforts of local governments to conduct watershed plans. The program has a goal of completing 50 WRASs by 2010. Once completed, the WRAS will help Maryland meet the 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement's Watershed Planning goal; to have two-thirds of the Bay Watershed addressed with comprehensive watershed management plans.

In the 2000 Chesapeake Bay Agreement, the state committed to "work with local governments, community groups and watershed organizations to develop and implement locally supported watershed management plans in two-thirds of the Bay watershed." (There are 127 eight-digit watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay drainage. Meeting the goal would mean that roughly 85 of those watersheds would be addressed with written plans). Because the WRAS Program's long-term objective is to complete 50 Watershed Restoration Action Strategies by 2010 and because many local governments have already completed and are implementing watershed plans independent of the WRAS effort, it is anticipated that Maryland will reach the two-thirds goal. For more information, click on the Watershed Planning Progress and Goals button on the WRAS Home Page.

5.    What are the services that DNR brings to the development of a WRAS?

As a WRAS partner, DNR will help to assess the conditions of the watershed, streams, and sites chosen by the local government. The assessment information is used to help target or prioritize where to direct future resources and implementation projects. The DNR WRAS coordinator will work with local governments for the duration of the WRAS partnership to identify and address other DNR services, beyond the core services, that they may want depending on geographic region or special need. The following is a summary of DNR core services provided during the first year of the two year WRAS Partnership for more detailed descriptions of these services see DNR's Technical Watershed Assessment Services:

a) Watershed Characterization Report: is a summary of all readily available natural resources data for a given watershed. Typically this is data that the State of Maryland has available to it but the Characterization Report can include local data as well. (Contact Ken Shanks at 410-260-8786 or kshanks@dnr.state.md.us or see "Watershed Strategies & Supporting Documents" for examples of the Characterization Report).

b) Synoptic Survey Report: is a water chemistry analysis (nutrients, temperature, conductivity, pH) and biological survey (macro invertebrates, fishes, habitat) on between 30 to 80 sites. Local governments choose the sites that DNR will sample. Please see the attached table of the Synoptic assessment services provided by DNR's Watershed Services Unit. (Contact Niles Primrose at 410-260-8804 or Watershed Strategies & Supporting Documents" for examples of the Synoptic Survey Report).

c) Stream Corridor Assessment Report: is the results from a 100 mile stream corridor assessment survey using DNR's Stream Corridor Assessment Methodology. The local government chooses the streams that they want DNR to walk and assess. (Contact Ken Yetman at 410-260-8812 or kyetman@dnr.state.md.us or see "Watershed Strategies & Supporting Documents" for examples of the Stream Corridor Assessment). The Stream Corridor Assessment Methodology, can be found thoroughly described in the document: Stream Corridor Assessment Survey: Survey Protocols.

d) Coordinator assistance: a part time coordinator is available to help you coordinate the WRAS process. This is ongoing for the duration of the two year partnership. Coordinators may be involved to a greater or lesser degree depending on local government need. (Contact the WRAS Program Manager for more information).

e) Approximately $40,000 (reimbursable) in direct financial assistance. A 40% match may be required. This funding is available at the beginning of the second year of the two year Partnership. This assistance may be used for any number of needs including but not limited to: county staff salaries, hiring a consultant to develop or write your WRAS, or a land trust to target lands and landowners for preservation and outreach opportunities, postage, or transportation needs for your project. You may also use this assistance to conduct more stream walks, or include more water sampling sites. 

6.    What are the components of a Watershed Strategy?

a) A well-stated, overarching goal aimed at protecting, preserving, and restoring habitat and water quality. At a minimum, habitat goals need to address streams, wetlands, and forest buffers.

b) A comprehensive assessment of natural resources, i.e. a "characterization" of the watershed. Data on natural resources may include but is not limited to: wetlands, shorelines, streams (fish blockages, buffers, potential restoration sites), indicators (such as percent impervious cover and land use, development and population trends), soils, habitat, wildlife (rare or endangered), Green Infrastructure analysis, water supply, living resources (fish, water birds, forest interior dwelling species), water quality data, watershed level land use information (such as maps), water quality problems (pollution sources), permitted facilities (such as point sources), protected lands (such as Rural Legacy, POS, easements, parks, public lands), recreation and public access, mines, flood hazards, and/or TMDLs. DNR provides much of this information and supplements local knowledge during the WRAS development through the above described "Characterization" report, the "Synoptic Survey" and the "Stream Corridor Assessment". Much of this information is gathered from state records, field work, or sampling efforts, and data available from local governments.

c) A description of the stakeholder process used in developing the WRAS. Stakeholders could include local government's Planning and Zoning, Public Works, Health Departments, or Recreation and parks. Land Trusts, Soil Conservation Districts, non-profits, business representatives, watershed organization, schools, and general citizenry are other important stakeholders. Partnerships with the public are important. The public must be involved in both the development of your WRAS and must also have a role in the subsequent strategy.

d) Identified priorities, opportunities, concerns, and challenges.

• Identified sensitive areas
• Identified important areas for preservation or protection
• Stakeholders concerns and visions for the watershed
• Challenges and management opportunities; including areas of concern, potential mitigation, restoration, and protection opportunities, etc.

e) A description of how the data and information provided by DNR, or other sources, was assessed, and utilized in making natural resource management decisions.

f) Natural resource management objectives, prioritized in order of importance, based on data, opportunities and challenges, and described in detail. Once implemented, these objectives would measurably improve the habitat and water quality of your watershed. Each management objective would include many of the following:

• A description of how it would be quantified.
• A description of how the objective would be monitored to determine if the objective was being met once implementation activities began.
• A description of the technical and financial assistance needed.
• An identification of who would be tasked with meeting the objective.
• A local program change, such as zoning or comprehensive plan changes that complements or supports the management objective.
• How the objective would address a pollution impairment identified by a TMDL, and an estimate for the load reduction expected.
• How the objective would involve meaningful public participation in the implementation phase, leading to a sustainable local capacity for watershed protection and restoration.
• An expeditious schedule for implementation.

In general, successful watershed plans usually: focus on management outcomes instead of watershed analysis tools; are short and specific, rather than a voluminous and complex report; provide an assessment or evaluation of the adequacy of existing local programs; make specific recommendations; are incorporated into local programs, through regulation, policy, or requirement; work at the right scale for the implementation work; involve stakeholders; addresses the significance of land use changes; and budget sufficiently for the implementation of the watershed plan.

7.    Who is eligible to apply for a WRAS Partnership with DNR?

All local governments are eligible. Independent nonprofit organizations, private for profit firms, or citizen groups are not eligible. Non-governmental organization's however are encouraged to enter into a working relationship with a local government in order to conduct a WRAS. See: Citizen and Stakeholder Involvement.

8.    How is a WRAS developed?

Local governments lead the process to develop the Strategy, preferably in collaboration with another local government sharing the same watershed and most importantly, with other partners. As a partner, DNR supplements local knowledge and information by providing a considerable amount of information and data about the watershed from which the local government can carefully analyze and then make subsequent management decisions. Local government information, local knowledge, and stakeholder concerns can all be considered. After assessing the data, incorporating stakeholder concerns, and establishing priorities for preservation and restoration, the natural resource management objectives and decisions are written by the local government into the WRAS document.

It is the responsibility of the local governments who are developing a WRAS to champion local public involvement and ensure strong stakeholder participation. Local governments may establish a core Working Group made up of interested parties and then have a larger Steering Committee made up of an even broader cross section of stakeholders. The Working Group makes regular presentations to the Steering Committee regarding progress, data, and decisions. The Steering Committee may raise concerns or provide recommendations, and consensus develops regarding the direction and focus of the WRAS. You may already have groups in your watershed who may be representative of the watershed's stakeholders and that could be invited to fill the role of the Steering Committee. There is no set way to develop the WRAS however, and the applying entity can manage the public process at their discretion.

9.    How will I know if my watershed qualifies for a WRAS?

Most watersheds qualify. If you are interested in applying for a WRAS Partnership with DNR, please see The WRAS RFP.

10.    A Brief History of the WRAS Program.

The Clean Water Action Plan (CWAP) was a Federal Initiative that guided all states in their efforts to reduce and protect their water resources. The CWAP required states to: 1) develop a unified watershed assessment (UWA) to assess the condition of their watersheds; 2) set watershed restoration priorities based on the UWA (i.e., selecting those watersheds not meeting clean water and other natural resource goals that are most in need of restoration actions); and 3) develop watershed restoration action strategies (WRASs) that identify the most important causes of water pollution and resource degradation and detail the actions needed to address those problems, and set milestones by which to measure progress.

Today, the WRAS Program uses the CWAP assessment of watershed conditions, and many other criteria, that the state deems appropriate, to help steer and select geographic areas of focus. For further information about the CWAP and the UWA see: http://dnr.maryland.gov/cwap/.

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Last Updated on April 6, 2004