Identifying watersheds

Publications

Watersheds: A Practical Handbook for Healthy Water, by Clive Dobson and Gregor Gilpin Beck. Firefly Books, 1999. A beautifully illustrated book providing an overview of the fundamentals of ecology from the simple concept of a watershed to the biological intricacies of a wetland ecosystem and its implications on the environment.

Online Resources

cfpub1.epa.gov/surf/locate/map2.cfm. “Surf Your Watershed,” a website of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here you can locate the regional watershed of which your town or site is a part, and get information about that watershed, though this website lacks the detail to show you the boundaries of smaller watersheds.

Maps and Aerial Photographs

mapping.usgs.gov. United States Geological Survey (USGS) topographic contour maps, sometimes called “topo maps,” can be very helpful in determining watershed boundaries since they illustrate the changing elevation of a landscape.
Urban environments: You can often obtain detailed topo maps, or aerial photos with superimposed contour lines, from government agencies. The departments of transportation, mapping, or flood control are usually a good place to start.

In Tucson, AZ

For information on such issues as property lines, ownership, whether streets in your neighborhood are designated bike routes, or how to use the Pima County Map Guide to determine topography of your block, start by calling Anna Sanchez or David Taylor in the Demographics section of the City Department of Urban Planning and Design 791-4505.

MapGuide classes. About every three months, the Pima County Department of Transportation (DOT) conducts free public classes on using the MapGuide Viewer with Pima County DOT MapGuide maps. Many data layers are shown and discussed. If you are new to MapGuide, it would help to go to “Pima County MapGuide Maps,” follow the directions there, and get a little experience before the class. Class announcement page: http://www.dot.pima.gov/events/mgclass/mgclass.cfm. Also see the GIS home page http://www.dot.pima.gov/gis/ and the city site http://www.tucsonaz.gov/planning/maps 

Neighborhood/Community Watershed Project Financial Assistance

Community Development Block Grants (CDBG)
CDBG funds (from HUD) may be used for improvements that are either publicly owned or traditionally provided by the government (sidewalks/footpaths, public right-of-way water harvesting (natural drainage systems/Street Edge Alternatives), public right-of-way street tree plantings, public parks/gardens/preserves). At least 51% of the neighborhood must be low or moderate income, defined as households with incomes at or below 80% of the area median income.
In Tucson, AZ grant funds are administered by the City of Tucson. Call Lucinda Abril 791-4123 or your Ward office for more info.

In Pima County, AZ

Pima County Neighborhood Reinvestment Program
Bond funds are available for some community enhancement projects in neighborhoods that demonstrate the greatest economic and social need. Neighborhoods are encouraged to provide some kind of matching funds. Proposals are accepted on a year-round basis. To learn if your neighborhood or your proposed project is eligible for funding, contact the Neighborhood Reinvestment Office at the Kino Service Center 243-6777.

Community/Neighborhood Watershed Project Technical Assistance

In Arizona

Bluestake
To get utility lines, utility easements, city right-of-way, or property lines marked for free, call Bluestake 1-800-782-5348 within 14 days of digging.

In Pima County, AZ

PRO Neighborhoods
Through the PRO Neighborhoods Planning and Design Service Awards, community groups can be matched with a team of planners, engineers, hydrologists, biologists, permaculturalists, landscape architects, and other professionals who provide their services on a pro bono basis to produce a concept, strategic plan, or specific plans for implementation of a neighborhood improvement project. This is not a needs-based award; selection is grounded in the community-building potential of the project. For information, see www.proneighborhoods.org or contact Judith Anderson at 882-5885.

The Drachman Institute
The public service/community outreach arm of the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona offers community groups assistance in architecture, planning, landscape architecture, and urban design. The request for proposals goes out in the spring. Projects are selected according to their suitability as class projects, for-credit Masters reports, or capstone projects. While there is no charge for faculty and student salary, some groups will be asked to contribute funds (on a sliding scale, based on ability to pay) at the beginning of the project to support materials, supplies, reproduction, travel, and other project-related direct costs. For info, see www.drachmaninstitute.org or contact the director, Corky Poster at 626-5293 or cposter@u.arizona.edu

In Tucson, AZ

Traffic mitigation/traffic calming
To explore the possibility of incorporating water harvesting techniques in your traffic calming plans (curb cuts, porous parking areas, landscaped chicanes or pull outs, traffic circles, pedestrian refuge islands, etc.) and to get information about the permitting process, contact Zelin Canchola at the City of Tucson Department of Transporation Traffic Engineering Division 791-4259 ZCanchol@ci.tucson.az.us. You can request an information packet on the Neighborhood Traffic Management Program, including an outline of the petitioning process, from Traffic Engineering at 201 N. Stone Ave., 5th floor, Tucson, AZ 85726

Community Tree Planting
To get order forms for inexpensive native shade trees and native street trees see www.DesertHarvesters.org and click on “native tree order forms.” For further information contact Doug Koppinger at 791-3109 or tcb@ci.tucson.az.us

Watershed Community Organizing and Watershed Awareness

Publications

“Basins of Relations: Restoring a Watershed State of Being,” by Brock Doleman. Permaculture Activist, no. 47, Summer 2002, pp. 8–12.
“A Watershed Runs through You,” by Freeman House. YES! magazine, no. 28, Winter 2004.

Getting in Step: Engaging and Involving Stakeholders in Your Watershed, Charlie.macpherson@tetratech-ffx.com. This guide provides the tools needed to effectively engage stakeholders to restore and maintain healthy environmental conditions throughout their watershed through community support and cooperative action. by Charlie MacPherson, Barry Tonning, and Emily Fallasli of Tetra Tech, Inc. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 68-C-99-249, 1998. To get a copy contact Charlie MacPherson at 703-385-6000 or email above.

Getting in Step: A Guide for Conducting Watershed Outreach Campaigns, www.epa.gov/ncepihom. This guide is an update of the 1998 publication “Getting in Step: A Guide to Effective Outreach in Your Watershed.” This updated version includes more specific information on how to work with the mass media to conduct an outreach campaign. prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA 841-B-03-002, December 2003. For copies of this guide and its companion video contact: National Service Center for Environmental Publications, Phone 1-800-490-9198 website

Starting Up: A Handbook for New River and Watershed Organizations, www.rivernetwork.org or phone 503-241-3506. This 440-page handbook is based on the experience of dozens of veteran leaders in the river and conservation movements with articles laying out the critical moves every newly forming organization needs to thrive and grow. compiled by Katherine Luscher. River Network, 1996. For copies visit

How to Start a Watershed Awareness Program, by the Aquatic Outreach Institute. available from the Watershed Project Store; phone 510-231-5655; website: www.thewatershedproject.org

Stormwater Strategies: Community Responses to Runoff Pollution, by Peter H. Lehner, George P. Aponte Clarke, Diane M. Cameron, and Andrew G. Frank. Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), May 1999. One hundred case studies of successful projects around the U.S. that simultaneously improve runoff quality and the environment, have economic advantages, and additional community benefits.

“Stormwater Management: Use It or Lose It,” by Tim Murphy. Sustainable Living in Drylands, no. 5, Winter 1988/89, A great wake-up call to the value of our stormwater runoff, and how we can use it as the local resource it is.

Stormwater: Asset Not Liability, published by the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council. Phone: 213-367-4111.

Stormwater Journal keeps you updated on issues related to stormwater control and lessening stormwater runoff pollution. Subscription information: www.stormh2o.com
International Erosion Control Association (IECA) and its publication the Erosion Control Journal keep you updated on erosion control strategies pushed by regulators and the industry. Membership and other information: www.ieca.org

Programs

Occidental Arts and Ecology Center’s WATER Institute, 15290 Coleman Valley Road, Occidental, CA 95465. Phone: 707-874-1557. Website: www.oaec.org. This organization offers the four-day residential training program, “Basins of Relations: Starting and Sustaining Community Watershed Groups.”

Designing Urban Landscapes and Retrofitting Cities as a Series of Functioning Miniature Urban-Forest Watersheds

Publications

Second Nature: Adapting LA’s Landscape for Sustainable Living, edited by Patrick Condon and Stacy Moriarty. Metropolitan Water District of Southern California, 1999. A great resource of a group in Los Angeles creating cross-jurisdictional and cross-disciplinary connections between the people and institutions responsible for the infrastructure, planning, and ecology of Los Angeles in order to view the city as a living watershed. Concepts such as passive rainwater harvesting and multiple-use landscaping are presented that could help improve the sustainability of the City and the watershed. Contact the organization at: TreePeople, 12601 Mulholland Drive, Beverly Hills, CA 90210; website: www.TreePeople.org/trees

Product Specification for the Transagency Resources for Economic and Environmental Sustainability Project, by John Stokes Associates, Inc., 1998. Prepared for TreePeople, Beverly Hills, CA. This is the Cost-Benefit Analysis for the T.R.E.E.S. Project, a program in Los Angeles. See Second Nature, above.

Online Resources

TreePeople website: www.TreePeople.org/trees/