Federal, state, tribal, and local governments, in partnership with local communities and the private sector, need to establish a systematic process to restore water quality and the health of the aquatic system in the approximately 1,000 watersheds that do not now meet clean water, natural resource, and public health goals.

The first stage of this effort should proceed over the next two-and-one-half years and include the following elements:

• define watershed restoration priorities;
• implement Watershed Restoration Action Strategies in 1999-2000 using diverse funding sources, including new federal funding proposed for FY 1999; and
• draft a progress report and recommend next steps at the end of the year 2000 and periodically thereafter.

Unifying Clean Water Programs within Watersheds "...current federal and state environmental programs and policies are fragmented and do not adequately emphasize restoration based on management of large interconnected aquatic ecosystems. The diverse responsibility of all layers of government affecting aquatic resources needs to be better coordinated if large-scale restoration is to be accomplished efficiently and effectively. Because aquatic ecosystems are interconnected and interactive, effective restoration efforts should usually be conducted on a large enough scale to include all significant components of the watershed." -- Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystems, National Research Service, National Academy of Sciences, 1992

Define Watershed Restoration Priorities

Based on the Unified Watershed Assessment, each state should establish an overall approach to defining priorities for watershed restoration.

State processes for defining watershed restoration priorities will vary but should include the following core elements:

• Criteria for defining watersheds that do not meet clean water goals and are most in need of restoration.

• A long-term schedule for developing response plans, with focus on an initial schedule of actions in the 1999-2000 period.

• A process for involving diverse state and tribal agencies in setting watershed restoration priorities, including the agencies for water quality, drinking water, coastal zone management, agriculture, forestry, wildlife and fisheries, and transportation.

• Consideration of existing restoration priorities, such as approved state priority rankings of impaired waters, priorities established in an approved National Estuary Program, Intended Use Plans for State Water Pollution Control and Drinking Water Revolving Funds, source water assessments, and environmental justice policies.

• Identification of interstate or intergovernmental coordination issues.

• A process for consulting with and involving tribal governments and applicable federal agencies including EPA, USDA, DOI, NOAA, and where applicable, federal land and resource management agencies.

• A process for involving local government, the public, and other interested groups in defining watershed restoration priorities.

KEY ACTION: By October 1998, states and tribes should work with appropriate agencies, organizations, and the public to define watershed restoration priorities, with special attention to watersheds most in need of restoration and protection. This schedule must be coordinated with section 303(d) of the Clean Water Act and provide an opportunity to bundle Total Maximum Daily Loads on a watershed scale. The schedule should identify the highest priority watersheds to be addressed in the first two years (through 2000).

KEY ACTION: EPA, in cooperation with other federal agencies, states, and tribes, will upgrade the National Index of Watershed Indicators in 1998 to support unified watershed assessments and to assist in evaluating the priority-setting process.

Watershed Restoration Action Strategies

For waters identified as not meeting clean water goals, the current Clean Water Act requires states and tribes to develop and implement response plans to restore the health of the water body.

A first step in this process is development of a "total maximum daily load" (TMDL) that sets the pollution reduction goals for the water body. Once the overall reduction targets are set, the responsibility for attaining the targets is assigned to point source dischargers, and other sources of pollution, including polluted runoff, in the form of "wasteload/load allocations" for the water body. States and tribes are required to submit TMDLs (including wasteload and load allocations and a margin of safety) to EPA for approval. EPA establishes the lists, priority rankings, and TMDLs where the Agency disapproves a state submission.

This Action Plan proposes that, for those watersheds identified as having the greatest need for restoration, states and tribes should develop a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy for the watershed.

In most cases, the development of TMDLs and wasteload allocations for specific impaired waters within the watershed will form the core of a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy. By taking a watershed approach, however, states and tribes will be able to consolidate existing efforts to address problems on specific water bodies. By developing response plans on a "watershed" scale, rather than a smaller "water body" scale, states and tribes will be able to better account for cumulative effects of diffuse pollution sources and for pollution in one river segment that comes from upstream segments.

Watershed Restoration Action Strategies can be a smarter, more effective and cost-efficient way to implement TMDLs and wasteload/load allocations. The TMDL process, however, is generally used to address violations of chemical standards in rivers and streams. A Watershed Strategy creates an opportunity to bundle TMDLs, to strike an appropriate balance between controls over discharges and polluted runoff, and to consider other water-related problems in the watershed, including wetland loss, sediment contamination, aquatic species habitat degradation, drinking water protection, and health of riparian areas. By taking a more comprehensive approach to restoring the health of the aquatic system in the watershed, a Watershed Strategy can result in improvements in environmental conditions that are mutually reinforcing, with higher long-term success rates. Water bodies impaired by polluted runoff in most instances will require a watershed-wide effort to achieve the necessary restoration and clean water goals.

Development of Watershed Restoration Action Strategies is also an opportunity to identify and demonstrate innovative approaches to restoring water quality and protecting public health and the environment. For example, in watersheds with approved TMDLs, federal agencies will work to encourage programs based on the trading of pollutants to implement the TMDLs with appropriate safeguards to ensure compliance. Federal agencies will work to establish flexibility in program implementation to support innovation, especially where it can restore water quality faster and more cost-effectively than traditional approaches. Watershed Restoration Action Strategies should include appropriate efforts to ensure compliance with applicable federal and state requirements. Federal agencies will assist in resolving interstate or intergovernmental coordination issues where they are identified by federal, state, tribal, and local partners working on Unified Watershed Assessments.

A water quality restoration effort on a watershed, rather than river segment, scale also offers citizens and other stakeholders better opportunities to participate in a water management process that is understandable and meaningful. States and tribes should reach out to the public, especially minority groups, in developing Watershed Strategies. Outreach can occur through public meetings, participation in developing assessments and plans, use of the Internet, and other means.

Watershed Restoration Action Strategies should specifically identify funding needed to implement actions, including expected roles of available federal assistance programs, state funds, and other resources. Federal agencies, such as USDA, EPA, NOAA, and federal land management agencies, will work to bring current funding and financial resources together to implement watershed restoration plans while still meeting mandated goals and objectives.

Development of aquatic system restoration strategies on a watershed basis is a chance to meet the existing obligations of the current Clean Water Act and other federal laws in a cost-effective and common sense manner. Nothing in the current law requires a watershed approach to addressing water quality problems, but federal agencies want to offer incentives to develop Watershed Restoration Action Strategies. As an incentive to foster development of watershed strategies, federal agencies will target significant new resources made available through the FY 1999 Clean Water and Watershed Restoration Budget Initiative and beyond to support the implementation of pollution control and other measures identified in Watershed Restoration Action Strategies.

KEY ACTION: States and tribes should work with public agencies and private-sector organizations and citizens to develop, based on the initial schedule for the first two years, Watershed Restoration Action Strategies, for watersheds most in need of restoration. Federal agencies will focus current financial resources as appropriate to support watershed restoration plans. New federal resources available in FY 1999 will be targeted to support implementation of actions called for in Watershed Restoration Action Strategies.

KEY ACTION: Federal agencies will develop guidance on targeting expanded funding for FY 1999.

In some cases, individual water segments with discrete water pollution problems, including segments located on federal or tribal lands, may need to be addressed independently of a Watershed Restoration Action Strategy. EPA and federal natural resource land management agencies will continue to identify individual waters not meeting clean water goals. Federal agencies will work with states and tribes to provide them with assessment information and help them develop TMDLs and wasteload/load allocations for these waters.

KEY ACTION: Federal land and resource management agencies will expand assistance and provide assessment information and tools to states and tribes developing and implementing TMDLs on federal lands.

KEY ACTION: The Bureau of Indian Affairs will provide technical assistance, grants and/or contracts to improve water quality on tribal lands.

Watershed Restoration Progress Report

The federal government and the states should work closely together to prepare periodic reports to the President, the nation's governors, tribal leaders, and the public on the progress of watershed restoration efforts and make recommendations for adjustments to improve the program. The National Watershed Forum (described later in this Chapter) can help provide valuable advice and recommendations from public- and private-sector interests. Reports will be submitted at the end of the year 2000 and periodically thereafter.

KEY ACTION: EPA and USDA, in consultation with NOAA, DOI, and other federal agencies, the states, and the National Watershed Forum, will submit a Watershed Restoration Progress Report to the President, the nation's governors, tribal leaders, and the public, evaluating progress in implementing restoration actions and recommending any actions needed to improve progress toward meeting clean water goals. Reports will be provided at the end of the year 2000 and periodically thereafter.