State Water Resources Control Board

A watershed is the land area extending from the topographic high points where water collects, such as ridges, down to the topographic low point where the area drains into a creek, river, bay, ocean, or other waterbody. Watershed management is the integration and coordination of activities that affect the watershed's natural resources and water quality. The premise of this concept is that many water quality and ecosystem problems are best prioritized, addressed, and solved at the watershed level rather than at the individual waterbody or discharger level. Major features of a watershed management approach are targeting priority problems, promoting a high level of stakeholder involvement, developing integrated solutions that make use of the expertise and authority of multiple agencies and organizations, and measuring success through monitoring and other data gathering.

Watershed Management Initiative Chapter

The water resource protection efforts of the State Water Resources Control Board and the Regional Water Quality Control Boards are guided by a five year Strategic Plan. A key component of the Strategic Plan is the Watershed Management Initiative (WMI), which promotes a watershed management approach for water resources protection. The WMI was developed to help State and Regional Boards meet our goal of providing water resource protection, enhancement, and restoration while balancing economic and environmental impacts. Each of the nine Regional Boards prepares its individual Chapter of the WMI, which is used both as an outreach and as a planning tool to identify the Region's priorities, describe where we should spend our baseline resources, as well as the need for additional resources. The Chapter is not a commitment to complete work but provides a framework to identify priorities and resource needs. Annual program workplans will still be prepared by program managers to identify which activities are going to be funded in a particular year based on available funding and staffing resources.

Our WMI Chapter has been updated as of October 2004 and posted below. Please note that Water Board priorities have been included in the Regional Activities Section 2.1 as Table 2-1 Water Quality Priorities, and grant targeted projects are included in Table 2-2 Targeted Projects and Table 2-3 Agricultural Water Quality Grant Priorities.

Title Page and Executive Summary

Section 1.0 - INTRODUCTION

1.1 Watershed Management Initiative
1.2 Watershed Definition and Watershed Management Approach
1.3 Watershed Management Areas in the San Francisco Bay Region
1.4 Organizational Structure, Priority Issues and Internal Communication
1.5 Watershed Based Program Management and Chapter Organization

Section 2.0 REGIONAL ACTIVITIES

2.1 High Priority Issues and Funding Needs -
2.2 Planning and Policy Development
2.3 Monitoring and Assessment
2.4 Nonpoint Source Program
2.5 Wetlands and Stream Protection
2.6 Core Regulatory Programs
2.7 Groundwater Resource Management
2.8 Geographic Information System (GIS)

Section 3.0 WATERSHED ACTIVITIES

3.1 County Watershed Activities
3.2 Alameda Watershed Management Area
3.3 Contra Costa Watershed Management Area
3.4 Marin Watershed Management Area -
3.5 Napa Watershed Management Area
3.6 San Francisco Watershed Management Area
3.7 San Mateo Watershed Management Area
3.8 Santa Clara Basin Watershed Management Area
3.9 Solano Watershed Management Area
3.10 Sonoma Watershed Management Area
3.11 Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDLs)