Center for Watershed Protection Outreach Projects

Watershed Services

As a leader in comprehensive watershed planning, the Center can provide competitive solutions for your community's watershed problems. Our watershed services fall into the following four broad categories:

Watershed Planning
Watershed Restoration
Watershed Protection
Watershed Consultation

All of the Center's services are customized to fit the specific characteristics of each watershed and the different goals and resources of our clients. Our efforts focus on developing plans that improve the overall health of the watershed. See samples of our work in these different areas here!

Read our terms of service
Printable information sheet

.

Watershed Planning Services

The Center's watershed planning services can help communities develop a sound understanding of the condition of their watersheds. Watershed planning is typically conducted on a large scale (10 to 100 square miles) and revolves around analyzing existing data, identifying watershed issues and conditions, engaging local citizens, developing objectives that reflect local sentiments, and outlining a strategy to achieve these objectives. Watershed planning services include the following:

Conducting GIS Mapping
Conducting Watershed Vulnerability Analyses
Providing a Stakeholder and Public Involvement Process
Developing Watershed Education Campaigns
Conducting Baseline Watershed Assessments
Designing Monitoring Programs
Using the Watershed Treatment Model to Determine Effective Management Strategies

Watershed Restoration Services

The Center's watershed restoration services focus on mitigating watershed impacts from urbanization and land disturbance. These services involve a more detailed set of stream corridor and upland investigations and start achieving objectives identified during watershed planning initiatives. Analyses are generally conducted at a subwatershed level, and involve intensive field assessment techniques. Information obtained during these analyses is used to develop detailed mitigation and restoration plans for specific projects located throughout the subwatershed. Specific types of analysis include the following:

Unified Stream Assessment
Unified Subwatershed and Site Reconnaissance
Stormwater Retrofit Inventory
Stream Restoration Inventory
Illicit Discharge Surveys
Pervious Area Restoration
Source Control and Municipal Pollution Prevention
Subwatershed Action Plans

Watershed Protection Services

Watershed protection services target rural and suburban watersheds, and focus on protecting high quality natural resource areas while accommodating some levels of growth. Much like the Center's restoration services, our watershed protection services involve detailed stream corridor and upland investigations emphasizing natural resource inventories and sensitive habitat identification. Analyses are conducted at a subwatershed level and involve intensive field assessment techniques. The resulting data are used to develop detailed natural resource area protection plans, indications of subwatershed health and vulnerability under current and future conditions, and specific recommendations for maintaining and improving subwatershed conditions. Specific services include the following:

Mapping and Watershed Delineation
Impervious Cover Estimation
Subwatershed Vulnerability Analysis
Rapid Stream Assessments
Assessment of Local Watershed Protection Capabilities
Wetland and Contiguous Forest Assessments

Watershed Consultation Services

The Center's watershed consultation services help communities develop and implement cost-effective local watershed planning and restoration programs as they tackle regulatory and community issues. The Center offers the following specific services:

Auditing Existing Resources/Capabilities
Developing Strategies to Meet Regulatory Requirements
Assessing Program Goals and Timelines
Developing RFPs and Scopes of Work
Methods Training
Strategic Planning
Providing Peer Review

Contact Us

Please contact us 410-461-8323 or center@cwp.org to discuss specific cost estimates and service details for watershed services you may be interested in.

Samples

See samples of our earlier work in these areas:

Bush River: This watershed management plan defines a strategy to help Harford County, MD improve the overall conditions in this Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Watts Branch: Located northwest of Washington D.C., the Watts Branch project developed a watershed restoration plan designed to mitigate the impacts and stresses on the ecosystem.
Englesby Brook: The Center worked with the City of Burlington to develop a watershed restoration plan for this small Vermont watershed.
Big Rock: The Center worked with the Nature Conservancy to help the City of Lewisburg, TN meet regulatory requirements as part of this project, which included a comprehensive assessment of the Big Rock watershed and development of a management plan to protect and restore the biological and physical health of Big Rock Creek and its tributaries.
Powhatan Creek : This Virginia watershed management plan crafted by the Center, the James River Association, James City County and watershed stakeholders is designed to protect and restore this historically significant creek. For the full copy or more information, contact James City County.
Yarmouth: This watershed management plan was created by the Center, the James River Association and James City County with the support of watershed stakeholders and details our efforts to identify critical issues and create an action plan to protect this relatively pristine Virginia watershed.
Goose Creek: The Goose Creek Demonstration Subwatershed Plans provide baseline information on three specific Virginia subwatersheds, recommend steps for implementing protection and restoration activities within these subwatersheds, and provide a framework for future field studies.