Note: This message is displayed if (1) your browser is not standards-compliant or (2) you have you disabled CSS. Read our Policies for more information.
Watershed management planning is at the heart of successful water quality restoration and protection. It is the method to understanding how to address the needs of a complex system in the most effective manner possible.
If you were to build a home, you would start with a blueprint. This would not only ensure that you remembered necessary steps, but it would also communicate your intent. A Watershed Management Plan is just that: a means to gather information in one place, outline the structure or design, and identify the resources needed to move forward.
The Indiana Watershed Planning Guide [PDF] was developed to assist local groups in developing successful watershed plans and to establish a common approach for watershed planning throughout Indiana.
This guide is intended to steer you through the process of developing a watershed plan. Many similar documents exist; in fact nearly every state has some version. However, this guide is written for people in Indiana by people in Indiana. It applies to the kinds of plans you can expect to be involved with in partnership with agencies that provide funding in Indiana.
This guide is not intended to supersede existing watershed management grant guidance or the requirements of specific programs. However, it is intended to provide basic information that is compatible with Indiana’s watershed grant programs.