Resources for Watershed Planning

Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters
This 2008 handbook is intended to help communities, watershed organizations, state, local, tribal and federal environmental agencies develop and implement watershed plans to meet water quality standards and protect water resources.

Critical Source Area Identification and BMP Selection (pdf) (2.61 MB, May 2018, 841-K-18-001)
This 2018 supplement to EPA’s 2008 Watershed Planning Handbook is intended to help watershed managers better target their restoration efforts where they matter most: critical source areas. Critical source areas are those areas within a watershed that contribute a disproportionately large amount of pollutants of concern to the identified water quality problems.
Nutrient and Sediment Estimation Tools for Watershed Protection (pdf) (431.14 KB, March 2018, 841-K-18-002)
This document is an update to the model information in the watershed planning guide. Specifically to identify and catalog many of the tools that are currently in use to estimate nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment losses and to identify the uses for which these tools are most appropriate
A Quick Guide to Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters (pdf) (2.43 MB, May 2013)

A Compendium of Tools and Methods to Estimate Environmental Benefits for Nature-Based Solutions (pdf) (1.61 MB, November 2024, 832-R-24-005)
This compendium connects restoration and protection nature-based solutions to environmental benefits related to water quantity, climate mitigation, air quality, ambient air temperature reductions and habitat management. The compendium identifies methods and tools readers can use to estimate environmental benefits in urban and agricultural settings for planning activities. Planning activities may include watershed-based planning, decision making, grant writing, and the communication of environmental benefits to other stakeholders.
EPA Region 5 Wetlands Supplement: Incorporating Wetlands into Watershed Planning (pdf) (1.32 MB, March 2012)
This document is a supplement to the Watershed Planning Handbook. The purpose is to encourage the inclusion of proactive wetland management into watershed plans.

Polluted Runoff: Nonpoint Source (NPS) Pollution