Watershed Health Toolkit

This paper addresses questions surrounding the use of cluster wastewater treatment systems for conservation development in unsewered areas. Cluster wastewater treatment is wastewater treatment by processes that provide advanced wastewater treatment and dispersal of effluent to the soil. Using cluster wastewater treatment, rather than on-lot systems such as septic tanks with leaching fields, enables conservation developments to use smaller house lots, thereby protecting more land and reducing infrastructure costs.

The American Planning Association exists to elevate and unite a diverse planning profession, helping communities, their leaders, and residents anticipate and navigate change.

ASLA is dedicated to advancing the landscape architecture profession and enhancing the natural and built environments.

This is a Model Ordinance for establishing stream buffers. It provides sections on background, intent, definitions, applications, plan requirements, design standards, buffer management and maintenance, enforcement procedures, waivers/variances, and conflicts with other regulations. It also includes pointers to personalize it to your community.

The "Arkansas Wetland and Riparian Zone Creation, Restoration, and Conservation Tax Credits Act" provides a state income tax credit to taxpayers who engage in the development, restoration, or conservation of wetland and riparian zones through projects approved by the Arkansas Department of Agriculture (the Department). The program promotes voluntary restoration or preservation of Arkansas’s critical environmental landscapes.

The 'batch and build process' enables the implementation of a single practice across multiple locations simultaneously. It can save money and time, as dozens of small projects can go through the permitting and design stage simultaneously, resulting in back-to-back construction. Not only are projects completed faster, but the streamlined process leads to significant cost savings as grouping projects enables contractors to deploy personnel and resources more effectively. The Iowa program deals specifically with agricultural conservation practices.

BLUE BTV is a residential green stormwater infrastructure incentive program that collaborates with residents to identify opportunities for stormwater mitigation, promote behavioral changes, and establish stewardship principles to protect our waters from cyanobacteria blooms. The City of Burlington will offer rebates to residents who install new practices to manage stormwater on their properties.

This program provides financial support to over 3,000 soybean farmers who enrolled in the first year of the program, enabling them to utilize Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) practices, including reduced tillage, cover crops, and rotation diversification, along with nutrient management practices.

The Forest Conservation Fund was created by the in-lieu fee program in Maryland. This document outlines the fund's allocation for afforestation, reforestation, and conservation efforts within the County.

The FCP is a planning and construction document that provides specific plans for retaining and protecting existing forested areas, particularly in priority areas, at the time of subdivision or proposed development. The FCP also includes details for planting or replanting selected areas when reforestation/ afforestation is required. Worksheets determine the amount of forest to be retained or planted based on land use category, property size, and the total amount of existing forest on the site. After techniques for maintaining or restoring on-site forest, off-site afforestation or reforestation have been exhausted, a fee-in-lieu payment is made into the Forest Conservation Fund.

This program provides simple steps and a wealth of resources to create and certify a wildlife-friendly landscape. Certification is available for homes, schools, businesses, and places of worship. These spaces significantly impact local and migratory species, from small window boxes to vast habitat corridors.

Clean River Rewards offers a discount on the stormwater charges on a property owner's bill when they safely manage stormwater on their property and keep it out of the city's sewer and stormwater pipes. The amount of the discount depends on how much rain is safely absorbed into the ground on their property. The max discount is 35 percent off the total stormwater fee.

This handbook provides information, advice, and case study examples on how economic development can protect natural resources and promote environmental health. Includes information about funding opportunities as well.

Compendium of PFAS policy actions in all 50 states. This extensive guide will help states and other partners and stakeholders access more information on specific PFAS topics and foster an understanding of the important work underway.

Overview of conservation development and resources that compare traditional subdivision design with conservation development. A copy of the Conservation Development District Model Regulations can be requested through CRWP.

CARE offers free trees to Critical Area property owners, helping the County maintain 100% of its existing forest cover within the Critical Area. The CARE Program cannot be used to meet mitigation requirements for any project, permit, or violation.

CDFW’s Cutting the Green Tape program is a statewide effort that represents environmental permitting and grant funding programs, with added support from general counsel and executive leadership.

The open space development model ordinance aims to minimize a development's impervious cover, decrease rainfall pollutant loads entering waterways, and alleviate potential pressure to encroach on resource buffer areas.

This is an example of an ordinance that municipalities can use to comply with the requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations. These provisions have been prepared only to meet the minimum requirements of the FEMA NFIP regulations and the Virginia Uniform State Building Code (USBC).

The agency's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster that has occurred in the United States and that overwhelms the resources of local and state authorities. FEMA works to ensure affordable flood insurance is available to homeowners in flood plains through the National Flood Insurance Program and also works to enforce no-build zones in known flood plains and relocate or elevate some at-risk structures.

The Flood Mitigation Assistance grant program is a competitive program that provides funding to state, territorial, and local governments, as well as federally recognized Tribal Nations. Since the National Flood Insurance Reform Act of 1994 was signed into law, funds have been used for projects that reduce or eliminate the risk of repetitive flood damage to buildings insured by the National Flood Insurance Program.

The Lehigh Valley Planning Commission in Pennsylvania has published a Guide to Model Floodplain Regulations. In addition to the model regulations, the guide provides information about the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) and a history of floodplain management in the United States.

The Forest Resilience Bond (FRB) is a conservation finance model specifically designed to generate new revenue streams for forest restoration and finance upfront project costs. It’s a public-private partnership that uses private capital to ease cash flow constraints. It also utilizes benefit evaluation models to generate new revenue, allowing multiple groups to share the costs of forest restoration. FRB was developed with the World Resources Institute (WRI), the USDA Forest Service, and the National Forest Foundation (NFF).

An example planning guide for analyzing and planning green infrastructure projects at a regional scale. This playbook illustrates how to strategically transition from a regional scale to smaller scales of green infrastructure implementation in the Kansas City area through planning for the Rock Island Corridor trail development.

H2Ohio is a comprehensive, data-driven approach to long-term improvements in water quality. Wetland projects are tracked and publicly shared through the H2Ohio Map of Wetlands Projects.

Hamilton County Water Study Public Report: Planning for the Future of Hamilton County Water Resources. This interactive document combines text, maps, media, and embedded web content to educate anyone interested in learning more about water resources in Hamilton County, Indiana.

Includes hazard mitigation strategies and actions, development policies, priority setting, funding and technical assistance resources, and examples of local hazard mitigation plans.

The Indiana Agriculture Nutrient Alliance’s primary objective is to improve education and awareness of effective best management practices. Because farmers are in the best position to determine the practices most appropriate for their farms to achieve reductions in nutrient loss, the alliance will strengthen partnerships with existing programs to enhance nutrient management and soil health, ultimately improving Indiana’s water quality.

IDEM issues air, water, solid, and hazardous waste permits that restrict discharges to environmentally safe levels. Staff members inspect and monitor regulated entities; provide compliance and technical assistance; monitor and assess air, land, and water quality; use enforcement actions as necessary to ensure compliance; and respond to incidents involving spills to soil or waters of the state.

The Department is divided into two distinct areas of responsibility: the Regulatory Management Team and the Land Management Team. The Regulatory Management Team consists of the Divisions of Water, Entomology and Plant Pathology, Historic Preservation and Archaeology, Reclamation, and Oil and Gas. Outdoor recreation and land management programs are housed within the Land Management Team. That unit consists of State Parks, Nature Preserves, Land Acquisition, Fish and Wildlife, Outdoor Recreation, and Forestry.

IFA is authorized to issue revenue bonds payable from lease rentals under lease agreements with various state agencies and to finance or refinance the cost of acquiring, building and equipping structures for state use including state office buildings, garages, highways, bridges, airport facilities, correctional facilities, state hospitals and recreational facilities related to State parks. The IFA also manages the Wastewater and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund ("SRF") Loan Programs and the Indiana Brownfields Program

IFA is a non-profit, statewide organization dedicated to the long-term health and well-being of Indiana’s native forests.

The Indiana Silver Jackets is comprised of multiple agencies and organizations focused on hazard mitigation, emergency management, floodplain management, natural resources management, and conservation, among other areas.

ISDA’s responsibilities include advocacy for Indiana agriculture at the local, state, and federal levels, managing soil conservation programs, promoting economic development and agricultural innovation, serving as a regulatory ombudsman for agricultural businesses, and licensing grain firms throughout the state.

The Indiana State Nutrient Reduction Strategy represents the state’s commitment to reduce nutrient runoff from both point sources and non-point sources, ultimately improving our lakes, streams, and rivers, as well as those downstream in the Mississippi River, Gulf of Mexico, and Great Lakes. This captures statewide, present, and future endeavors in Indiana that positively impact the state’s waters and gauge the progress of conservation, water quality improvement, and soil health practice adoption in Indiana.

The Indiana Stream and Wetland Mitigation Program (IN SWMP) is a statewide in-lieu fee program that allows permittee applicants (developers) the option to purchase stream and/or wetland mitigation credits to fulfill compensatory mitigation requirements for permitted impacts authorized under sections 404 and 401 of the Clean Water Act, Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, and Indiana’s State Isolated Wetlands law (Indiana Code 13-18-22).

Indiana Water Allies works to coordinate water-related policy development and advocacy across the state and is primarily focused on state government-level advocacy.

This project, led by the Indiana Silver Jackets, developed an educational and outreach campaign featuring an interactive ESRI Storymap, social media materials, and in-person workshops to highlight the importance of wetlands and their role in reducing flood risk.

Indiana Wildlife Federation is a nonprofit, grass-roots affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation, whose mission is to promote the conservation, sound management, and sustainable use of Indiana's wildlife and wildlife habitat through education, advocacy, and action.

The IMPO develops short and long-range plans to support local governments and advance the region’s goals in transportation, housing, safety, sustainability, and other quality-of-life issues.

The Iowa Watershed Approach (IWA) is a voluntary program that enables Iowans to work together to address factors contributing to flooding. This is done by forming a Watershed Management Authority. Each area is developing a hydrologic assessment and watershed plan and implementing projects in the upper watershed to reduce the magnitude of downstream flooding and improve water quality during and after flood events. Flood resilience programs will be implemented in each watershed to help increase community resilience to future floods. It is a replicable model for other communities where the landscape has lost its natural resilience to floods.

Isolated Waters of Lake County (IWLC) are “All waters such as lakes, ponds, streams, farmed wetlands, and wetlands that are not under U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ (Corps) jurisdiction.” It requires that all wetland mitigation take place within Lake County, IL, to maintain no-net-loss of wetlands in the county.

This Ordinance establishes regulations to protect people, property, and natural resources from flooding and poor stormwater management. It complies with state and federal floodplain and wetland protection laws, preventing increased flood risks and erosion, reducing taxpayer costs for flood damages, and promoting sustainable land and water development in Lake County. Additionally, it supports public health and safety, preserves critical environmental functions, and maintains eligibility for the National Flood Insurance Program.