NYS Unified Watershed Assessment Report
The federal Clean Water Action Plan requires each state to prepare a Unified Watershed Assessment to determine where additional funding will help achieve "fishable and swimmable" waters for all Americans. On October 1, 1998, New York State submitted to USEPA an assessment that brings together water quality and natural resource factors in each of the state's 54 watersheds. For each watershed area at the USGS 8-digit Hydrologic Unit Code scale, technical staff of DEC and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service used evaluation data, expertise and public input to identify restoration priorities and develop action strategies that will be carried out over the next five years.
A summary map shows the category to which each watershed has been assigned:
- Category I - Watersheds in need of restoration. These watersheds do not now meet, or face imminent threat of not meeting, clean water and other natural resources goals. New York State has 26 watersheds in this category; substantial restoration work is under way in 21 of these watersheds.
- Category II - Watersheds meeting goals, including those needing action to sustain water quality. New York has 22 watersheds in this category.
- Category III - Watersheds with pristine or sensitive aquatic system conditions on lands administered by federal, state, and tribal governments. New York has no watersheds in this category.
- Category IV - Watersheds with insufficient data to make an assessment. New York has 6 watersheds in this category.
To review the assessment for a specific watershed, go to the link list located above and click on "Watershed Assessment". Information to interpret the assessment factors is obtained by clicking on "Map Information."
More about NYS Unified Watershed Assessment Report:
- Unified Watershed Assessment And Watershed Protection And Restoration, 1998 - Introduction; Processes; Participants and Participation; Rationale; Unified Watershed Assessment; Watershed Protection and Restoration Priorities; Conclusions; Attachments
