ABSTRACT
Watershed management is rapidly becoming the preferred method for controlling the damage done to natural systems by human activities. This approach focuses on managing the activities of people residing and working in a given catchment through stakeholder involvement and incentivebased methods, instead of through traditional command-and-control regulations (U.S. EPA [Environmental Protection Agency], 1996; NAS, 1999). Watershed management has arisen partly in response to changes in the dominant stressors upon stream ecological integrity, as attention has shifted in recent years from controlling individual point source releases to addressing nonpoint sources of degradation. Nonpoint source stressors, such as habitat loss, invasive species, and nutrient runoff, are much more difficult to control than point sources, as they are dispersed across large areas and usually involve many different stakeholders.
