The following web resources are organized by intended user. Educators and kids can learn about watersheds and nonpoint source pollution. Residents can learn about local watersheds, landscaping to improve water quality and other ways to protect watersheds. Planners can locate ordinances and find resources pertaining to stormwater technologies and research. This page also contains links to glossaries, educational videos and state and federal agencies concerned with watershed management.

 

• The Kids Page, Stormwater education from the City of Fort Worth, TX
• Certify a Schoolyard, National Wildlife Federation
• Bridging the Watershed Outreach Program, Alice Ferguson Foundation with the National Park Service
• Environmental Inquiry, Cornell
• TEACH Great Lakes, Great Lakes Information Network
• USEPA Office of Water

  • Nonpoint Source Kids' Page
  • Water for Kids
• Education Resources for Youth, MN Board of Water and Soil Resources
• Kids + Teachers: Frogs!, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant
• Kids' Stuff, City of Battle Creek Water Protection

Web Resources for Residents

• Watershed Education/Protection

  • Car Washing
    • Riversafe Car Washing Campaign
    • Automobile/Car Wash Education, Orange County, CA
    • Take Me Out to the Car Wash, Stormwater Magazine
    • The Dirty Secret of Washing your Car at Home, Stormwater Magazine
    • Sound Car Washes, Massachussett DEP
  • USEPA Nonpoint Source Pollution Activities Kids Page
  • After the Storm, USEPA
  • Stormwater Information, City of Memphis
  • Watersheds, Where the Atmosphere Meets the Earth, nbc4.com
  • Water Saver, water conservation in your home
  • Saving Water Partnership, water conservation in your home
  • Michigan Watershed Links, MSU
  • Great Lakes Directory, Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network
  • Center for Watershed Protection
  • Watershed Signs, Kent State
  • Protecting Nature in Your Community: A Guidebook for Preserving and Enhancing Biodiversity, Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission
  • Prairie Crossing
  • A Land Manager's Guide to Prairie and Savannas in Michigan: History, Classification and Management (pdf)
  • Wetlands Fact Sheets, USEPA Office of Water
  • Adopt a Stream Foundation
  • Ways to Clean Up Our Water, NRDC
  • Urban Open Space Foundation
  • Downspout Disconnection Program, City of Toronto
  • Downspout Disconnection Program, Milwaukee Metro Sewerage District
  • Downspout Disconnection Program, City of Boston
  • Toronto and Region Conservation Authority: for the living city
  • Stormwater and Runoff Pollution, NC Dept of Env. and Natural Resources
• Protecting Your Water Resources through Landscaping

  • Rain Gardens
    • Stormwater Marsh: Divert your Roof Rain Water to Make a Side Yard Marsh. National Wildlife Federation
    • Rain Gardens, WMEAC, City of Grand Rapids
    • Rain Gardens Healthy for Nature and People, Chicago Wilderness
    • Edgewood College's Rain Garden Project
    • WI DNR Rain Gardens Manuals
  • Gardeners Guide to Clean Water, Santa Barbara County, CA
  • Save Our Swales, City of Fort Lauderdale, FL
  • Wild Ones Native Landscaping Handbook
  • Backyard Wildlife Habitat, National Wildlife Federation
  • Chicago Botanic Garden
    • Native Plant Garden
    • Skokie River Demonstration Garden
  • A Tale of Two Cities' Lawn Care Practices
  • Planting the Seed: A Guide to Establishing Prairie and Meadow Communities in Southern Ontario, Environment Canada
  • Bay Scapes, Alliance for Chesapeake Bay
  • Green Landscaping with Native Plants, USEPA GLNPO
  • Rain Water Harvesting
  • Combined Sewer Overflow Rooftop Type Analysis and Rain Barrel Demonstration Project, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments

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Web Resources for Planners/Municipalities

• Local Municipality Ordinances and Comprehensive Plans

  • City of Kalamazoo Comprehensive Plan
  • City of Kalamazoo Wellhead Protection Program
  • City of Kalamazoo Ordinances
  • City of Kalamazoo Zoning Ordinance Update Project
  • City of Portage Ordinances
  • City of Portage Home Page
  • Texas Township Ordinances (click on link on home page)
  • Oshtemo Township Home Page

• Model Ordinances

  • Model Ordinances to Protect Local Resources, USEPA
  • Surface Water and Stormwater Rules Guidance Manual, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
  • Grand Traverse County Soil Erosion Ordinance Development
  • Water Quality and Infrastructure, Northeast-Midwest Institute, ordinances concerning stormwater, wetlands
  • Stormwater Manager's Resource Center, Center for Watershed Protection (click "ordinances" to view model ordinances)
  • Effluent Guidelines Construction and Development, USEPA
  • Model Stormwater Management Ordinances, Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District
  • Stormwater Ordinance, City of Memphis
  • King County Stormwater Pollution Control Manual, King County Natural Resources, WA
  • Guidelines for Maintenance and Service of Unpaved Roads, USEPA
  • American Planning Association
  • Model Vegetated Buffer Ordinance, SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control
• Stormwater Utilities

  • Stormwater Magazine articles on financing stormwater utilities
    • Designing Stormwater User Fees: Issues and Options
    • The Stormwater Utility: Will it Work for Your Community?
    • Buddy Can You Spare a Dime? What's Stormwater Funding?
  • Model Stormwater Utility Ordinance
• Riparian Protection
  • MN Shoreland Management Resource Guide
  • Chesapeake Bay Riparian Handbook, USEPA Chesepeake Bay Program Office
  • Riparian Owner's Guidebook, Annis Water Resources Institute, GVSU
  • Stream Corridor Restoration (SCR), Federal Interagency SCR Working Group
  • Riparian Restoration Roundtable Resources
  .
BMPs
• The BMP Toolkit, Municipal Technical Advisory Service
• BMP Manual, City of Knoxville, TN
• Urban Small Sites BMP Manual, Twin Cities Metropolitan Council
• New York State Stormwater Management Design Manual, New York State
• Caltrans Stormwater Management Management Program: Research and Education
• California Stormwater Quality Association BMP Handbooks
• Green Grid, Roy F. Weston
• Technical References, USDA NRCS
• Grasspave: Invisible Stormwater Structures
• Cooling the City with Green Rooftops, Great Lakes Radio Consortium Story
• Watershed Technology Electronic Catalog, USDA NRCS
• Stormwater Resources Library
• National Menu of BMPs for Stormwater Phase II, USEPA Office of Water
• National Management Measures to Control Nonpoint Source Pollution from Agriculture, USEPA
• Stormwater Innovative Design: The Role of the Landscape Architect, Stormwater Magazine
• Methods of Sizing Water Quality Facilities, Stormwater Magazine
• Road Construction and Maintenance, USEPA
• National Highway Runoff Water Quality Data and Methodology Synthesis, USGS
• Stormwater Authority
• Erosion and Sedimentation Control

  • Stormwater Program for Construction Activity, MN Pollution Control Agency
  • Land Development Manual, City of Knoxville, TN
  • Erosion Prevention and Sediment Control Field Guide, KY Division of Water
  • A Soil Bioengineering Guide for Streambank and Lakeshore Stabilization, US Forest Service
  • Vegetated Riparian Buffers and Buffer Ordinances, SC Dept. of Health and Environmental Control
  • Winter Construction Pamphlet, VT Water Quality Division (pdf link at bottom of page)
  • Steps for Erosion and Sediment Control during Construction, StormwaterAuthority.org
• Storm Drain Stenciling

  • Storm Drain Marking in Fort Worth, Texas
  • das Manufacturing Curb Markers
• Modeling

  • Watershed & Water Quality Modeling Technical Support Center, USEPA Ecosystems Research Division
  • Watershed Tracking and Environmental Results, USEPA Office of Water
  • WATERSHEDS, Water, Soil Hydro- Environmental Decision Support System, NCSU
• Low Impact Development (LID)

  • Puget Sound Action Team LID
  • LID Center
  • Protecting our Waters: A Guide to Responsible Development within the Milwaukee River Basin
  • Stormwater and Better Site Design, Etowah Habitat Conservation Plan
  • LID Literature Review, USEPA
  • The LID Approach, NRDC
  • Selected LID Reference Materials, CE News
  • Urban Design Tools, LID Center
  • LID Development Strategy for Green Cove Basin, City of Olympic, WA
  • Better Site Design, Builders for the Bay
• Etc.
• An Internet Guide to Financing Stormwater Management
• Capacity Building, USEPA Office of Water
• Section 319 Success Stories Vol. 3, USEPA Office of Water
• Watershed Academy Web, USEPA

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State and Federal Agencies

Data Sources and Other Links

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Educational Videos

Watershed Glossaries

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