Water: Sustainable Strategies
A Watershed Management Approach is the current best practice for the overall management of municipal water systems. It requires thinking about water resources beyond the needs of individual cities. It requires active collaboration among public entities at all levels of government, inasmuch as they share common water systems.
Further, this approach also highlights the cross-cutting and multi-layered nature of the issues related to water. For example, attempts to protect water quality in a municipal reservoir might involve issues related to permitting, zoning, household recycling, limits on water recreational activities, and so on. In short, a watershed management approach searches for comprehensive and integrated solutions.
Ground water sources, surface water boundaries and pollution causes are not restricted by political borders. The most cost-effective and impactful strategies will address the cross-jurisdictional realities of watersheds.
A watershed approach will:
- Define and prioritize water problems by entire watersheds (including sub-watersheds, and drainage basins).
- Coordinate strategies, programs, and initiatives with other agencies and jurisdictions affected by shared watersheds.
- Track performance through shared systems for data collection and monitoring.
- Leverage resources among partner agencies and jurisdictions to avoid redundancies and realize cost savings.
An area of land which contributes overland flow of rainfall to a particular body of water. For example the Mississippi watershed stretches from the Rocky to the Appalachian Mountains.The collection, reprocessing, marketing, and use of materials that were diverted or recovered from the solid waste stream.
