Although everyone lives in a watershed, most people don't know the actual meaning of the word. Put simply, a watershed is all the land that drains into a given body of water. This body of water can be a creek, pond, river or ocean. Generally speaking, the larger the body of water, the larger its watershed. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, for example, covers 64,000 square miles and drains from six states including 60 percent of Virginia.

This map depicts the major rivers' watersheds in the Old Dominion. One thing all of these watersheds have in common is people, and where you have people, you have land-disturbance. When people alter land - to farm, to build, to landscape, for transportation, etc. - they must ensure that changes don't cause runoff pollution for other people or plants and animals downstream that depend on clean, usable water.

The technical term for this type of pollution is nonpoint source pollution (NPS), and it's a thread you'll find common to nearly every page in the soil and water conservation section of DCR's website. Regardless of the watershed in which you live - and each watershed has unique NPS pollution problems - there are many ways all of us, from farmers to elementary school children, can prevent such pollution to keep Virginia's creeks, rivers and bays clean and productive. Click here to learn simple ways to reduce the threat of NPS pollution and make Virginia an even better place to live.

If you'd like to learn more about Virginia's watersheds, there's plenty of material available from DCR to help you promote watershed awareness. A 10-minute video, Watershed Connections, brochure, large poster of the state's watersheds, kids' conservation activities booklet, bumper stickers and watershed yellow pages for the major river basins are yours for the asking. Just call toll-free 1-877-42WATER or your regional DCR office. Click here to download a copy of Watershed Connections, a brochure that details ways you can help your watershed (PDF, 500K). To learn about the more technical aspects of hydrologic unit delineation and notation, please click here.

New stuff

• Revisions to the Virginia Stormwater Management Regulations (SWM) became effective on Sept. 13, 2011. The revised regulations provide many localities the option of implementing SWM rules in a local program. The alternative is to have local development regulated under a DCR-run program. Localities that wish to adopt a local program should notify DCR of their intent by March 2012.
  • Click here for more information on the local stormwater management options.
• The Plant More Plants website was launched in early March to help homeowners do their part to reduce pollution while creating a more enjoyable home. The site provides tips on simple, environmentally friendly ways to care for lawns and gardens.
• Virginia is one of the Chesapeake Bay states developing a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) and a Watershed Implementation Plan. The plans are required by the Environmental Protection Agency because the bay and its tidal waters do not meet water quality standards. Excess nutrients and sediments are the major causes of this pollution. A TMDL can be likened to a pollution diet, and the implementation plan is the action plan for that diet.

Index of DCR stormwater management programs

Introduction, overview of nonpoint source (NPS) pollution
(NPS) pollution awareness
Adopt-A-Stream - You can help!
Agricultural Best Management Practices
Agricultural BMP Cost-Share training for SWCDs
Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund (license plate grant program)
Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategies (2005)
Clean Water Farm Awards
Conservation Marketing Warehouse (for SWCDs wanting to improve their identity)
Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (Virginia's)
CREP incentive table (PDF)
Engineers' Toolkit: Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) Permit Regulations (PDF)
Erosion and Sediment Control (ESC)
ESC Training and Certification
Farm animal data overview
Glossary of soil and water conservation terms
Grant Project Management Manual
Healthy Waters Initiative
Hydrologic Unit Geography
Local Conservation Water Quality Ordinances
NPS Assessment and Prioritization
NPS Grants Program
Nutrient Management
Nutrient Management Training Opportunities
Poultry Litter Transport Incentive Program
Public Beach Program
Responsible Land Disturber Certificate of Competence Program
Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs)
Soil and Water Conservation Puzzles for Kids (PDF)
SWCD Dam Ownership Reference and Training Resources
SWCD Law
SWCDs listed by locality
Section 319 Nonpoint Source Pollution Management Program
Section 6217 Program
Shoreline Erosion Advisory Service
Soil and Water Conservation Board
Soil Surveys
Stormwater Management
Virginia Rivers - Jump Right In! (tips on keeping Virginia's waterways clean)
Virginia Stream Restoration and Stabilization Best Management Practices Guide, 2004 (PDF, 4.5 MB)
VSMP (VPDES) Permitting for Construction Activities and Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Systems
Virginia Stormwater Management Program (VSMP) Permit Regulations (effective Jan. 29, 2005) Engineers' Toolkit
Water Quality Improvement Act
Watershed Roundtables
Watershed Management Planning - documents and other material to help you protect waterways

SWCD Directory

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