Have you been looking for better approaches to land use planning, land conservation, aquatic buffers, site design, erosion and sediment control, stormwater management, reducing non-stormwater pollutant discharges, and watershed stewardship to protect or restore your coastal watershed? We’ve just finished several years of study to bring you the latest resources and tools to help improve our coastal waters. You don’t need to be an expert to use our Information Center, just sort through our products and pick the ones that meet your needs. It’s easy, so get started!

Geographic Focus

A coastal plain is an area of flat, low-lying land adjacent to a seacoast and separated from the interior by other features. The Coastal Plain Watershed Information Center deals with the unique characteristics and management concerns of watersheds in the U.S. Atlantic coastal plain province, as defined by Fenneman and Johnson (1946). This province borders the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico from Cape Cod down to the Mexican border. It stretches some 2,200 miles in length and includes portions of 21 states. Some of the information on this website is broadly applicable to all coastal areas, or to non-coastal areas with similar environmental and development characteristics. 

About the Project

The Center for Watershed Protection received funding from the Cooperate Institute for Coastal and Estuarine Environmental Technology (CICEET) to develop tools to manage the impacts of land use and stormwater runoff on coastal plain water resources. The two CICEET-funded projects under which the Coastal Plain Watershed Information Center was developed are the Coastal Plain Watershed Network: Adapting, Testing and Transferring Effective Tools to Protect Coastal Plain Watersheds and the Promoting Innovative Stormwater Solutions for Coastal Plain Communities.

Contents

Watershed Protection Techniques: Special Issue on Coastal Plain Watershed Management 

• The Center for Watershed Protection has revived its publication Watershed Protection Techniques, for one last gasp as we put forth some watershed management tools for coastal plain watershed communities.

Coastal Tools and Resources

• We've organized the best of the best coastal watershed resources, including: 1) supporting information for the Watershed Protection Techniques articles; 2) a listing and description of the top coastal tools and websites from NOAA, NEMO, EPA and others; 3) major coastal reports and studies; 4) coastal trainings, and 5) information on coastal hazards and vulnerability.

Case Studies from the Coastal Plain

• We've compiled a suite of case studies here that focus on the Atlantic coastal plain so that other coastal plain communities can see examples that work for their region.

Coastal Plain Outreach Materials

• This section contains slideshows and photos of coastal plain low impact development practices that you can use to educate decision-makers and citizens in your community about the benefits of LID

Coastal Community Watershed Management Checklist

• This planning checklist was designed to address critical coastal watershed management issues and challenges related to water quality and natural resource protection goals. The Checklist provides an inventory of best practices and policies that local coastal governments, elected officials, watershed managers, and other stakeholders can use to assess the status of watershed protection in their community, and to identify areas for improvement through the use of example resources and case studies.

Do you have feedback for us on this site or its resources?  Let us know.  Send an email to kc@cwp.org.