Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-214) and index.
Introduction. Problem statement -- Background -- Objective and format -- Definition of watershed health -- The foundation of watershed management: a lead group and a plan -- The closed-loop watershed health monitoring model -- Political linkages and support. Rationale -- Creating political linkages -- Avoiding pitfalls -- Scientific assessment. Rationale -- Surveillance and performance evaluation -- The three-tiered surface water assessment model -- Data quality assurance and control -- GIS and modeling tools -- Community education and awareness. Rationale -- Techniques for educating the watershed community -- Avoiding pitfalls -- Cost recovery through partnership. Rationale -- A cost recovery and partnering model -- Guiding principles -- The Laurel Creek Watershed monitoring program. Background -- Mission statement -- Program objectives -- Program development -- Pilot study -- The program -- Estimated annual program budget -- Recent program development -- Summary and conclusions -- Supporting watershed documents -- Winning the 1998 Dubai international award for best practices -- Long-term goals -- Developing an environmental monitoring program for the Uxbridge Brook Watershed. Uxbridge Brook Watershed plan -- Monitoring activities used to develop the Uxbridge Brook Watershed plan -- Monitoring implementation of the Uxbridge Brook Watershed plan -- Case Study 3: Integrated stormwater and watershed management system: an emerging tool for watershed health planning and monitoring. Introduction -- Developing subwatershed plans and monitoring programs using the integrated stormwater and watershed management system -- Conclusions -- Case study project participants -- Advanced remote sensing technologies for watershed health monitoring. Introduction -- Recent advances in remote sensing -- Use of radar satellite data for watershed health monitoring -- Use of LIDAR data for watershed health monitoring -- Case study project partners -- Case Study 5: the Lake Simcoe environmental management strategy. Background -- Political support -- Scientific assessment -- Defining the problem -- Producing a management strategy -- Community education and awareness -- Cost recovery and partnerships -- Conclusion -- Case Study 6: Applying the closed-loop model to improve water quality in the Yuqiao reservoir, Tianjin, China. Summary -- Introduction -- The public-participatory process: a means to building consensus -- Achieving success: putting the plans into action -- Lessons learned and the continued application of the public-participation process in China.