What EPA is Doing for Healthy Watersheds

Background

Much of the focus of EPA’s water quality programs for the past five decades has been on restoring impaired waters and reducing pollutant levels in waterways. While EPA and our state, tribal and other partners have made, and continue to make, considerable progress in this important task, we recognize the need to also protect and maintain the chemical, physical and biological integrity of our Nation’s waters (CWA Section 101(a) objective) as intended by Congress.

The Committee Report written in support of the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act amendments clarified that the term integrity "…refers to a condition in which the natural structure and function of ecosystems is [sic] maintained," rather than simply improving water quality in a narrow sense. Protection of healthy functioning watersheds is essential for not only ensuring that restored water bodies are maintained but also so that we can continue to enjoy the ecological services healthy watersheds provide.

EPA acknowledged the need to increase protection of healthy watersheds in Coming Together for Clean Water: EPA’s Strategy to Protect America’s Waters. The Strategy identified increased focus on the protection of source waters and healthy watersheds as one of the five areas guiding the implementation efforts and actions to meet the objectives as a key national strategy (i.e., EPA will work with states and tribes to strengthen capacities to identify and protect high quality waters). EPA created the Healthy Watersheds Program to enhance our ability to protect healthy aquatic ecosystems and their watersheds.

Program Goals

Support states and tribes in their efforts to identify, protect and maintain healthy watersheds across the United States.
Further integrate protection of healthy watersheds into EPA Clean Water Act programs.
Promote the aquatic protection component in partnering with other government, non-government and private entities involved in landscape conservation.
Increase awareness of the value of protecting healthy watersheds and improve understanding of the range of management actions needed to avoid adverse impacts.

Key Program Elements

The Healthy Watersheds Program provides a strategic framework and tools for holistic watershed protection for state, tribal and local programs. The Program both integrates systems-based healthy watersheds protection into EPA CWA programs, and promotes development of state, tribal and large basin healthy watershed protection strategies. These strategies leverage programs and resources of land and aquatic ecosystem protection agencies, and of other partners.

Key elements include:

Partnerships are established to identify and protect healthy watersheds.
Healthy watersheds are identified by states and tribes with their partners using scientifically-sound, integrated assessments.
Healthy watersheds are listed, tracked, maintained and increased in number.
Healthy watersheds are protected and, if applicable, enhanced using the best regulatory and non-regulatory tools.
Progress on protecting healthy watersheds is measured and tied to securing and raising the overall goals of EPA's Water Program.

Healthy Watersheds Assessment Projects

One challenge facing efforts to protect healthy watersheds is insufficient information about healthy watersheds, their condition and vulnerability in many parts of the nation. Although public and private efforts have made progress identifying and protecting exceptional watersheds in some areas, a better and more consistent information base from which to consider and act on protection is needed. Healthy watersheds assessments provide a crucial link between identifying healthy watersheds in the first place and protecting their valued attributes against the most serious risks they face.

The EPA Healthy Watersheds Program developed Healthy Watersheds Assessments in support of states' and other partners' efforts to identify and protect high quality waters. EPA first released Preliminary Healthy Watersheds Assessments in 2017. The PHWA project, updated in 2021, is a set statewide and ecoregional-scale assessments that score watershed health and vulnerability across the conterminous United States. The assessment was based on the Healthy Watersheds Assessment Framework, an analytical approach that focuses on six key attributes of watershed health: Landscape Condition, Geomorphology, Habitat, Water Quality, Hydrology, and Biological Condition. In addition to characterizing watershed health, the HWA also includes estimates of relative watershed vulnerability, defined as the potential for future degradation of watershed processes and aquatic system health

EPA has collaborated with several state governments and watershed groups in developing healthy watershed assessments that can aid their future protection efforts. View more information about the assessment and protection of healthy watersheds, and about integrated assessments.

Integrating Watershed Protection with Other EPA Responsibilities

To achieve the goals of the Clean Water Act (CWA), EPA and states have implemented a variety of programs to establish surface water quality standards, assess the condition of waters, control nonpoint source pollution, regulate point source discharges and, protect source waters, estuaries, oceans, and wetlands. Healthy watersheds protection occurs through a wide variety of techniques and approaches, many that exceed the limits of EPA's resources and roles. Integrating healthy watersheds protection into CWA programs will help both maintain healthy watersheds and ensure sustainability of restored watersheds.

The Long-Term Vision for Assessment, Restoration and Protection under the Clean Water Act Section 303(d) Program (“Vision”) identifies five goals, including the Protection Goal. As discussed in the Vision, the intent of the Protection Goal is to encourage a more systematic consideration of management actions to prevent impairments in healthy waters (i.e., unimpaired waters) in order to maintain water quality or protect existing uses or high quality waters. Although not all States may ultimately choose to use protection approaches, opportunities for protection within the context of state-wide water quality goals can be an important component to achieving water quality objectives.

Nonpoint Source Program and Grants Guidelines for States and Territories. The EPA 2024 nonpoint source program and grants guidelines for states and territories outline requirements that apply to recipients of nonpoint source pollution management grants funded under CWA Section 319. The guidelines include a provision to fund watershed protection projects where a state has identified protection of high quality waters as a priority.

Maintaining Healthy Watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The 2014 Chesapeake Watershed Agreement contains a new Healthy Watersheds Goal: sustain state-identified healthy waters and watersheds recognized for their high quality and/or high ecological value. The outcome associated with this goal is 100 percent of state-identified currently healthy waters and watersheds remaining healthy. The Chesapeake Bay Program Maintain Healthy Watersheds Goal Implementation Team implements strategies to achieve this goal. The Team is developing methods to track watershed health and protection status. Tracking measures are reported on the Chesapeake Stat website.

Program Contacts

Michael Scozzafava (scozzafava.michaelE@epa.gov), Director, Watershed Restoration, Assessment and Protection Division, EPA Headquarters