Watershed Management: A Comparative Study of Recreational Use Conflicts and Community Involvement

Abstract

The link between land and its impact on water quality is critical. Most land lies in one watershed or another and this is where human activity is concentrated. Human use of land and their activities can have far reaching impacts on the quality of water. Broadly the uses of watersheds are recreational, commercial and natural resource uses. These uses depending upon their intensity, affect the watershed and thereby the local population. Over the years steadily declining water quality in several waterbodies has created the need for management and conservation of this resource. In response to this need the U.S.EPA developed the Watershed Protection Approach as a framework for managing water resources by focussing efforts on a watershed level. The Lynnhaven Watershed located in the City of Virginia Beach and the South Santiam Watershed located in the Willamette river basin are two watersheds that share several similarities and at the same time are different from one another. This paper presents a descriptive analysis of the two watersheds, the use of resources, resulting conflicts, existing management/conservation strategies and community involvement. Finally the paper presents an evaluation of what went on in each watershed in terms of conservation strategies, what worked, what did not and the possible reasons why and attempts to draw policy implications for watershed management in the United States.