Integrated Land Use and Watershed Management

Land use has a direct impact on downstream water quality and habitat. As land is converted from forests and wetlands to agricultural uses, runoff increases causing erosion and carrying an array of pollutants. Further conversion of land for housing and commercial uses brings increasing imperviousness, greater rates of runoff, and additional problems of erosion, pollution, and habitat loss. These state specific workshops will promote the integration of watershed or natural resource management into local land use planning to ensure the implementation of local water quality/quantity, habitat, and forest buffer goals (and ultimately C2K goals). Relevant county examples will be highlighted and discussion on the advantages/disadvantages of each example will be encouraged.