Vast amounts of material exist to guide the process of forming a watershed group, getting the public interested, writing a watershed management plan, and carrying out projects in your watershed. Below are some links that I have found useful, but this is in NOT a complete list. This is a toolbox, rather than a toolkit, meaning that it is a collection of a lot of useful materials rather than a guide in itself.

Getting Started

The Watershed Information Network from the U.S. EPA has lots of good information, from how to get a group together, to technical information necessary for planning a project. http://www.epa.gov/win/start.html

• Start with Top 10 Lessons Learned, a handbook that describes the top 10 lessons that watershed practitioners across the U.S. have learned regarding what works and doesn't. Developed in partnership with over 100 practitioners. Includes key contacts and resources. http://www.epa.gov/owow/lessons/top10.pdf

There are great step-by-step guides available for each part of getting the process going from the Conservation Technology Information Center's Know Your Watershed Site. http://ctic.purdue.edu/kyw/kyw.html

• Click through the Watershed Guides on the left hand menu. Start with Getting to Know Your Watershed.http://ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/Brochures/GetToKnow.html

The Watershed Council Toolkit from the Sierra Nevada Alliance is also a good guide, though both this and KYW cover similar issues. http://www.sierranevadaalliance.org/publications/watershedtk/

The organization For The Sake of the Salmon also has a great toolbox page of links available, with tons of downloads, some of which will be mentioned here as well. http://www.4sos.org/

The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project also has a huge set of materials that can help you get going. http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/scwrp/index.html


Planning for your Watershed

The California Coastal Conservancy has produced a great guide to moving from meetings to making things happen, starting with assessing watershed conditions, and moving into planning for action. http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/Publications/ws_planning_guide.pdf

Another useful guide is again part of the CTIC Know Your Watershed Project, their guide to watershed planning: http://ctic.purdue.edu/KYW/Brochures/PutTogether.html

Looking at other watershed management plans can also be very helpful, and many contain lessons learned sections meant to help other groups. Here are just a few local ones:

• The Arroyo Seco Watershed Restoration Feasibility Study was just released: http://www.arroyoseco.org/
• The Calleguas Creek Watershed Management Plan has a beautiful web site: http://www.calleguas.com/ccbrochure/cc.htm
• A comprehensive document for planning in the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers is Common Ground from the Mountains to the Sea: San Gabriel and Los Angeles Rivers Watershed and Open Space Plan : http://www.rmc.ca.gov/projects/commonground.html
  
• The Watershed Management Area Plan for the Malibu Creek Watershed is available from the Watershed Management Division of the LA County Department of Public Works: http://ladpw.org/wmd/watershed/mc/wmap.cfm
  
• The Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers Watershed Council has a wealth of information regarding management of this dual watershed: http://www.lasgrwc.org/
  
• The LA County Department of Public Works - Watershed Management Division is in the process of developing a master plan for the San Gabriel River: http://ladpw.org/pln/sgrmp/
  
• Some of the documents leading to the Topanga Watershed Management Plan are available online, and further contact information is provided if you wish to get a copy of the plan: http://www.topangaonline.com/twc/resources/
• In the Ventura River, most efforts thus far have focused on Matilija Dam: http://www.matilijadam.org/
  
• A larger overview of watershed planning efforts in the area can be found in the Regional Water Quality Control Board's Watershed Management Plan Update: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb4/html/programs/regional_programs.html
  

Technical Information

As you move forward with watershed management, you will need a variety of kinds of technical information for assessing your watershed and planning projects.

A great new database and information source for specific information about watersheds in Southern California is the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project's Information Station: http://eureka.regis.berkeley.edu/wrpinfo/

• Find GIS layers and other information by clicking on the data and interactive mapping buttons on the left menu, or by clicking on specific watersheds on the map
  
• Also from the wetlands recovery project, check out their wonderful glossary of wetland and water quality terminology, look under WRP tools and information: http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/scwrp/catalog.html
  
• Post your own data to share at the same website, by using the menu on the left hand side.

For specific information about water quality and regulation in Southern California Streams, go to the web site for the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb4/

For other kinds of information not directly related to water, but necessary for planning, try the California Spatial Information Library for GIS layers and more: http://www.gis.ca.gov/ , or the US Census bureau for demographic data, http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/DatasetMainPageServlet?_lang=en

For information about watershed management initiatives from Los Angeles County, see the web site for the new Watershed Management Division on the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works: http://ladpw.org/wmd/

In Ventura County, check out the web site for the Public Works Agency, and keep an eye out for the soon to be established Watershed Protection District (formerly the Flood Control District): http://www.ventura.org/vcpwa/index.html For stormwater and other water quality information in Ventura, go to http://www.vcstormater.org

For assistance with planning and conducting citizen based water quality monitoring in California, contact the State Water Quality Control Board's Clean Water Team: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/nps/volunteer.html

For lots of technical information and manuals, though not as up-to-date as some sources, go the EPA's watershed tools directory: http://www.epa.gov/OWOW/watershed/tools/

For a comprehensive manual for stream corridor restoration, you can download or order the Stream Corridor Restoration: A Federal Interagency Handbook at: http://www.usda.gov/stream_restoration/newgra.html

If you are going to do a restoration project, you will need a variety of permits. The California Association of Resource Conservation Districts has compiled a Guide to Watershed Project Permitting: http://www.carcd.org/permitting/main.htm


Outreach

There are a few great guides to how to conduct outreach activities. These may come at the very beginning of the watershed process, or closer to the end in the case of some environmental education initiatives.

One of the most useful I have found is Getting in Step: A Guide to Effective Outreach in Your Watershed, prepared by the US EPA, and the Council of State Governments, and TetraTech. http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/outreach/documents

If you are interested in environmental education resources and opportunities, check out the California Regional Environmental Education Community, http://www.creec.org

Though not specifically related to watershed work, the CalPhotos database from the Digital Library Project at UC Berkeley has over 40,000 photos of plants, animals, and ecosystems in California. Most are free for use for any non-commercial purpose. Just make sure to credit the photographer! http://elib.cs.berkeley.edu/photos/

Funding

There is a great deal of money available for watershed management and restoration, and only a few grant sources are listed here.

Conservation Grants News has a huge listing of funding sources, with links to their websites. It is a national database, but with a focus on California.

 

• Each month, CGN sends out a list of grant opportunities to subscribers, who pay $24.00/year for a list of the newest requests for proposals (RFP's). The same list is posted about a month later. Consider looking over the grant opportunities, and subscribing when you are close to action. http://www.conservationgrants.com/
  
• It also contains Jean's guide to grant writing, with common sense advice about preparing proposals: http://www.conservationgrants.com/write.htm

In addition to running their own grant program, the Urban Streams Restoration Program http://wwwdpla.water.ca.gov/environment/habitat/stream/appcycle.html , the Department of Water Resources has a list of links to other funding sources: http://wwwdpla.water.ca.gov/environment/habitat/stream/money4cks.html

The US EPA Office of Water also has a catalog of federal funding sources for watershed protection, in addition to having their own grant programs: http://www.epa.gov/owow/watershed/wacademy/fund.html

The State Water Resources Control Board administers a variety of funds, some focused on pollution reduction, others with a broader scope: http://www.swrcb.ca.gov/funding/index.html

The Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project runs both large and small grant programs focused on site acquisition and restoration: http://www.coastalconservancy.ca.gov/scwrp/index.html