Protecting and Restoring Surface Waters
The Watershed Planning Program works closely with partners across Vermont to coordinate surface water improvement activities. The program also administers funding initiatives in support of this work, including the Act 76 Formula Grants to Clean Water Service Providers, Tactical Basin Planning Grants, and the WISPr (SRF) sponsorship program.
At the heart of these coordination efforts are watershed management plans, called Tactical Basin Plans. These plans summarize existing surface water quality conditions, with identified priorities for surface water protection and restoration of degraded waters. The Vermont Water Quality Standards as well as Vermont’s Clean Water Act (2015) require the development of Tactical Basin Plans for each of Vermont’s 15 river basins to be adopted on a five-year recurring cycle.
Each basin in Vermont has a Watershed Planner, who works with partners in their basin to identify and prioritize projects or actions needed to protect or restore specific waters. The WPP team also helps to coordinate and implement discreet projects in numerous ways and plays an especially important role in implementing non-regulatory (i.e. voluntarily implemented) projects.
More information on the work of the program can be found in the links below.