Questions about managing pollution runoff, increasing wildlife habitat and controlling invasive species in the nation's estuaries are among those addressed in a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Community-Based Watershed Handbook released this week at the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation in St. Louis.

“Community-Based Watershed Management-Lessons from the National Estuary Program” is an update to Saving Bays and Estuaries, published in 1989. While the new handbook focuses on estuaries, its principles and examples are relevant to any organization involved in watershed management.

The 98-page handbook describes innovative approaches developed and conducted by the 28 National Estuary Programs, which are community-based watershed-management organizations that restore and protect coastal watersheds. Topics covered range from starting a program, identifying problems and solutions to plan development and action steps.

Estuaries and the lands surrounding them are where rivers meet the sea, and where fresh water meets salt water. The National Estuary Program centers on four areas of the United States: Northeast, Middle and South Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and the West Coast.

A copy of the Community-Based Watershed Handbook is available online.

9/2/2005