What is the Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group?
The Arkansas Watershed Advisory Group (AWAG) is a consortium of state and federal agency personnel and private citizens working to promote voluntary approaches to watershed management and conservation.

What is a watershed?
A watershed is a natural boundary for that area's water resources. It consists of the land within which water drains to a common area. All rainwater and snowmelt run into streams, rivers, wetlands, or lakes and eventually make it to the ocean or it may percolate through the soil and become ground water. As water moves along its course, it picks up contaminants, sediment, and debris. Anything that happens to the water along its path may affect the quantity and quality of water in the receiving waters.

What is the watershed approach?
The watershed approach is an all encompassing effort to address causes of water quality and habitat degradation in a watershed. Stakeholders from the private and government sectors prioritize problem areas and develop comprehensive, integrated solutions to protect the water resource. The term water resource refers to the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of a water body and the plant, animal and human uses it sustains.

How was it developed?
The watershed approach is not a new idea. Historically, watershed projects focused on the objectives of the sponsoring government agency. The idea of including citizens, citizen groups, businesses, and local governmental agencies in a watershed project is a nontraditional approach.

In the 1890's, The U.S. Inland Waterways Commission reported to Congress that rivers must be treated as integrated systems. Despite the recognition, the focus on water resources management throughout the first half of the century was on the efficient use of water resources for energy production, navigation, flood control, irrigation, and drinking water.

Improving ambient water quality and protecting the Nation's drinking water became more important during the 1950s and 1960s. The Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1956 provided large-scale funding of publicly owned treatment works. The Water Quality Act of 1965 required states to develop water quality standards for interstate waters, protecting major systems such as the Delaware and Colorado Rivers.
Restoring and maintaining the integrity of the nation's waters became the national goal of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act Amendments (Clean Water Act) of 1972. It also established the nation's permitting system to control point source pollution, the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES). Comprehensive State Ground water Programs were also implemented under the Clean Water Act to reduce, prevent and eliminate pollution to ground water and surface waters.

Implementing programs to control point sources of pollution have been successful and now nonpoint sources and habitat degradation are targeted as major contributors to the nation's remaining water quality problems.

Hazardous waste sites were determined to be affecting public water systems in the late 1970's. Surface water intrusion and contaminated ground water discharge affected some sites. The Safe Drinking Water Act combined several programs to protect public health and called for a comprehensive watershed protection approach. Amendments to the Clean Water Act in 1987 required states to expand programs addressing nonpoint sources (NPS), toxicants, wetlands, water quality standards and other topics.

Amendments to the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1996 established the Source Water Protection and Wellhead Protection Programs. Preventing contamination of drinking water resources includes wellhead protection and sole source aquifer watershed control plans. Hydrologic models of ground water flow define the protection area and may include a portion of the stream and the watershed upstream from the well. Under the section, a public water supply should include all areas that contribute to the water supply and must be mapped with potential pollution sources identified. Surface water systems would define the watershed as the area contributing water to the public water supply. Source water protection and watershed action plans are both designed to improve and protect water quality, therefore, watershed action groups should include source water protection in their efforts.

What is a watershed action plan?
A watershed action plan is an itemized list of the problems, priorities and activities the local watershed group would like to address. This list serves as guide for the watershed group by developing a strategy for watershed improvement. The process of preparing a list is a productive exercise in many ways. First of all, the process develops awareness of the natural resources in the watershed and educates the public about their natural resources. Cooperative work by members with different interests instills public support.

Problems are diagnosed and treatments are prescribed with the Watershed action plan. The plan also serves as a common reference point and can be used to document previous and future successes and failures in natural resource planning. Funding is also planned through this document.

Why should we develop a watershed plan?
Managing water resource programs on a watershed basis will provide better environmental results, save time and money, and garner greater public support.

Watershed management can offer a strong foundation for uncovering the many problems that affect a watershed. Traditionally, water quality improvements focused on specific sources of pollution such as a discharge pipe from a factory, or specific water resources, such as a river segment or wetland. This type of approach is fine for addressing a particular problem, but may fail to uncover the subtle and chronic problems that contribute to a watershed's decline over time. A watershed plan involves interested stakeholders planning and working toward an environmentally and economically healthy watershed that benefits all who have a stake in it. It provides a more holistic approach.

Watershed approaches can have the added benefit of saving time and money. A watershed framework can simplify and streamline the workload. Efficiency is increased once all agencies with natural resource responsibilities begin to work together to improve conditions in a watershed. By coordinating their work, the agencies can complement and reinforce each other's activities, avoid duplication, and increase the power of work resources to achieve better results.

Watershed protection leads to greater awareness and support from the public. When individuals become aware of and interested in their watershed, they often become more involved in decision-making and protection and restoration activities. This involvement builds a sense of community, helps reduce conflicts, increases commitment to meet the environmental goals, and improves the likelihood of success for the program.

Why does the plan need to be locally based?
All watersheds are unique and require a unique action plan. Specific characteristics and problems are determined by population density, economics, geography and existing water quality. Arkansas is a diverse state with 6 natural land divisions. Arkansas' varied natural environment has determined where we live and how we use the land. Local organizations can best identify major issues of concern in the community and look for solutions to improve the quality of the natural resources. Local support is important and involving stakeholders in the planning process from the beginning provides an opportunity for local participation and empowerment and creates a smoother transition during implementation of the plan. Regulatory controls are important tools used to protect and improve water quality, but the regulatory authority of government agencies is limited to the specifics outlined in legislation. Many other areas of jurisdiction fall under the authority of local governments, therefore, a unified effort between local governments, various agencies, private organizations and citizens is the most effective method to holistically address water resource quality.

Who should participate in watershed planning?
Local ownership and support is ensured when watershed planning and implementation is led by a local group with a broad representation of interests. Individual citizens and organizations who use the resources in the watershed and have an interest in identifying and solving water resource problems should participate in the planning process. Individual citizens, local officials, state and federal resource agencies, water suppliers industries, developers may be stakeholders in a typical watershed project.

When should a watershed plan be prepared?
Individuals or local groups that are concerned about a water resource, whether it is documented or perceived, should prepare a watershed plan. The group should be willing to initiate, develop, and implement a watershed action plan.

Watershed Approach Resources
A Guide to Developing Local Watershed Action Plans in Ohio. State of Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, Division of Surface Water. June 1997
Know Your Watershed. Conservation Technology Information Center. 1995.
Watershed Protection: A Statewide Approach. USEPA Office of Water. August 1995.