Major Components of a Watershed Plan

Watershed plans must ensure that the causes and sources of nonpoint source pollution are identified, that key stakeholders are involved in the planning process, and that restoration and protection strategies are identified that will address the water quality concerns. Below are the five major components of a watershed plan:  

This component provides an inventory and analysis that describes the current state of the watershed. It delineates the watershed and subwatershed boundaries and describes its waterbodies. It will describe the physical and biological characteristics of the watershed; including how the watershed functions; existing land use and land cover patterns; causes and sources of pollution; estimated pollutant loads; and trends within the watershed.   

Watershed management recommendations explain how water quality will be protected and restored within the watershed through a series of projects and actions developed to correct existing impairments and prevent future impacts to water quality.  

The implementation strategy sets the stage for implementation by identifying the actions needed to address the problems and opportunities in the watershed. It sets out an implementation schedule, lays out priorities, establishes realistic expectations for partner involvement, and outlines budget needs.  

This component outlines a proposed long-term monitoring plan, describes indicators and performance criteria for monitoring restoration projects, establishes milestones and tracking mechanisms to evaluate progress over time, and proposes mechanisms for reporting progress and updating the watershed plan. 

The outreach and participation component sets forth a method and process to encourage community participation in the planning process. The outreach plan identifies key individuals, organizations, and entities to be involved, and spells out the visioning process and roles and responsibilities for coordinating the entire outreach process, logistics, and the proposed schedule of public meetings and other public engagement activities.