- Structural and nonstructural controls,
- Operation and maintenance procedures, and
- Other requirements and scheduling and distribution of activities.
- Not meeting, or facing an imminent threat of not meeting, clean water or other natural resource goals;
- Meeting goals but needing action to sustain water quality;
- Having pristine/sensitive aquatic system conditions on Federal, State, or Tribal lands; or
- Needing more information to assess watershed condition.
Unified Federal Policy for Ensuring a Watershed Approach to Federal Land and Resource Management
Glossary of Terms
These definitions are intended only to help you understand the policy better, and do not change the meanings of terms defined by law or regulation. If we define a term in the policy that is not defined elsewhere by law or regulation, you should not consider any such definition to have the effect of a law or regulation. Also, if we use a definition in this policy that is subsequently found to conflict with current laws or regulations, the current laws or regulations would apply. For example, "best management practices" and "total maximum daily load" are defined in the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations at 40 CFR 122.2 and 40 CFR 130.2(i), respectively.
Adaptive management: A type of natural resource management in which decisions are made as part of an ongoing science-based process. Adaptive management involves testing, monitoring, and evaluating applied strategies, and incorporating new knowledge into management approaches that are based on scientific findings and the needs of society. Results are used to modify management policy, strategies, and practices.
Best management practices (BMPs): Methods, measures, or practices to prevent or reduce water pollution, including, but not limited to:
Usually BMPs are applied as a system of practices rather than a single practice. BMPs are selected on the basis of site-specific conditions that reflect natural background conditions and political, social, economic, and technical feasibility.
Consistent: Conforming to the same principles or course of action.
Hydrologic unit: A national standard system of watersheds that are classified into four types of units: regions, sub-regions, accounting units, and cataloging units. The hydrologic units are arranged within each other, from the smallest (cataloging units or sub-basin) to the largest (regions). Each hydrologic unit is identified by a unique hydrologic unit code (HUC) consisting of two to eight digits based on the four levels of classification in the hydrologic unit system. A standardized fifth-level of classification or 10-digit hydrologic unit (watershed) has recently been developed. Locally, a non-standard sixth-level sub-watershed also may have been developed.
Priority watersheds: Watersheds selected for the focusing of Federal funds and personnel for the purpose of accelerating improvements in water quality and watershed condition.
Reference condition: The range of factors (for example, meteorology, surface and ground water, soils, geology, vegetation, topography, channel geometry factors, and natural and human disturbances) that is representative of the watershed's recent historical values prior to significant alteration of its environment. The reference could represent conditions found in a relic site or a site having had little significant disturbance. The reference condition does not necessarily represent conditions that are attainable. The purpose of references is to establish a basis for comparing what currently exists to what has existed in recent history. References can be obtained through actual data, such as paired watersheds or well-managed watersheds, or through extrapolated techniques, such as modeling.
Resources: The biological and physical characteristics for which Federal agencies have management and stewardship responsibility; for example, air, soil, water, fish, wildlife, vegetation, and minerals.
Total maximum daily load: An estimate of the total quantity of pollutants (from all sources - point, nonpoint, and natural) that may be allowed into waters without exceeding applicable water quality standards.
Unified Watershed Assessment: The Clean Water Action Plan asked Tribes and States to assess their watersheds and identify all watersheds as being in one of four categories:
Source Water Assessment: A process, required by the Safe Drinking Water Act, whereby the State or designated Tribe or agency, identifies the areas that provide surface and ground water to public drinking water systems; inventories existing contaminants; and determines vulnerability of the system to contamination.
Watershed: A geographic area of land, water, and biota within the confines of a drainage divide. The total area above a given point of a water body that contributes flow to that point.
Watershed approach: A framework to guide watershed management that: 1) uses watershed assessments to determine existing and reference conditions; 2) incorporates assessment results into resource management planning; and 3) fosters collaboration with all landowners in the watershed. The framework considers both ground and surface water flow within a hydrologically defined geographical area.
Watershed assessment: An analysis and interpretation of the physical and landscape characteristics of a watershed using scientific principles to describe watershed conditions as they affect water quality and aquatic resources. Initial watershed assessments will be conducted using existing data, where available. Data gaps may suggest the collection of additional data.
Watershed condition: The state of the watershed based on physical and biogeochemical characteristics and processes (e.g., hydrologic, geomorphic, landscape, topographic, vegetative cover, and aquatic habitat), water flow characteristics and processes (e.g., volume and timing), and water quality characteristics and processes (e.g., chemical, physical, and biological), as it affects water quality and water resources.
http://water.usgs.gov/owq/cleanwater/ufp/glossary.html
Revised October 17, 2000