UPSTREAM RURAL WATERSHED PROJECTS CONTRIBUTIONS TO IMPROVED WATER QUALITY

摘要

Since 1944 the United States, working through the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has assisted local peopleaddress their natural resource problems using various watershed program authorities. These local project sponsors go bymany names. They are watershed districts, conservancy districts, soil and water conservation districts, watershedimprovement districts, drainage and irrigation districts, etc. Each one of them is an entity of state government. While theoriginal program authorities addressed flood control and erosion and sediment control primarily, over the years theauthorities have been expanded to include many other objectives such as water quality improvement. When thinking of thesewatershed projects, many people associate the projects with dams and flood control. What is not commonly understood is thefirst project planning increment, that of proper land management and the installation of good practices or BMP’s. Whilethese practices were always part of a complete watershed plan, and while they were originally believed to address the erosioncontrol objective only, for years we did not realize the contribution they make to improved water quality. This paper willdiscuss the role of the watershed project sponsor, the types of BMP’s that might be part of a complete plan, how thesepractices are installed, how they are financed, and their effectiveness. The author’s objective is to provide more awarenessfor one of the most effective, but little used, watershed management tools available to us today.