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YOU ARE HERE: www.marionswcd.org >
watersheds >
View up-to-date watershed maps for Marion County
Check out the Ongoing Watershed Projects
Central Indiana
Watersheds at
www.indywatersheds.org
Eagle Creek Watershed at
www.eaglecreekwatershed.org/
Geist Reservoir /
Upper Fall Creek Watershed draft plan..
The draft plan is available for the public for review.
Lower Fall Creek Watershed
at
www.lowerfallcreek.org/
Pleasant Run Watershed
at
www.pleasantrunwatershed.org/
Upper White River
Watershed Alliance at www.uwrwa.org/
Check to See if a Site is in a Flood Plain?
Check to see if you live in or near a
flood plain. Thanks to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP)
and services provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
flood hazard maps have been developed for most communities in the United
States. To get a Flood Insurance
Rate Map (FIRM) for your community go to
www.fema.gov/hazard/flood
on the web and click on flood maps.
With some patience you can view a map for most areas. You usually can
find the site by just entering your address. For
additional information about FEMA visit their web site
is at www.fema.gov .
The Importance of Watershed Planning
When water flows
across the land during rainfall events, it can carry fertilizers, loose
soil, litter and other pollutants into streams and other surrounding water
bodies. As a result, everything we do on the land affects the quality and
quantity of our water resources and the natural systems that surround us.
Therefore, the natural resources and the quality of life in our
communities are directly affected—positively or negatively—by the way we
plan for and manage the land we use.
Community watershed
management planning is a way to consider a wide range of environmental,
economic, and social issues along with the community’s vision for the
future of the watershed under a single framework. Working within physical
boundaries rather than political boundaries, the watershed management
planning process provides opportunities to address water quality and
habitat issues beyond the scope of single jurisdictions. It provides a
means to ensure environmental protection, to support quality of life
issues, and accommodates economic development using the watershed as the
planning framework. Any kind of planning allows you to put a single action
into the context of a larger vision—watershed management planning allows
for that vision to include healthy natural resources and waterways.
Local governments and watershed associations play an essential role in
restoring Marion County's water resources through the restoration and
protection of local water bodies and habitat. Many local agencies are
becoming more engaged in watershed management planning. Because these
entities have developed an understanding of the connection between land
use and environmental health, it is hoped that watershed planning will
become an integral part of comprehensive land use planning within their
jurisdictions. Localities in the Marion County area have began to conduct
watershed management planning in areas such as the Mud Creek and Eagle
Creek Reservoir. In these watersheds it is hoped that
protection, preservation, restoration and other land use decisions can now
be made using technical and financial resources as efficiently and
effectively as possible in order to improve water quality, habitat and the
quality of life for all residents.
Watershed
management planning is a process that involves many steps and includes a
variety of stakeholders as well. Watershed groups often start by
building public support and then move through a planning process.
The planning process does not always move in one direction and the various
steps are interrelated. Information gained at one step may lead the group
to move to another step in the process. For example, information gained
during the inventory step may lead the group back to seeking new
stakeholders. The watershed planning process is described in the
Handbook listed below. The planning process should be completed and
result in the the development of an actual watershed management plan.
Community Watershed Assessment
The Watershed Approach
Handbook Fact Sheet
Community
Watershed Assessment Handbook
-A Guide to the First Steps of
Creating a Watershed Plan
The
Watershed Approach Framework
Watershed
Protection
Natural Resource Assessment Data
NRCS natural resource
problem assessment (at the national level)
National Resource Inventory (NRI) web site
Water Assessment Data
Indiana Water Quality Assessment Data Base
EPA Watershed
Assessment
Stream Improvement Information
(Be patient the following files are in pdf format, and may take
some time to download)
Riparian
Forest Buffer Fact Sheet
Riparian Forest Buffer
Standard
Stream Channel
Stabilization Standard
Streambank
Protection Standard
Stream Habitat
Improvement Fact Sheet
Stream Habitat
Improvement Standard
River Corridor & Wetland
Restoration
Stream Corridor Restoration
Federal
Agency Stream Corridors Group
Federal Interagency Working Group
National Conservation Buffer Initiative
Riparian References
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