Watershed Action Plans

What is a Watershed Action Plan?

A Watershed Action Plan is for planning, tracking and measuring implementation of watershed improvement projects.

Watershed action Plans are dynamic and focused on identifying project areas, prioritizing project areas, developing implementation plans, and tracking water resource improvements.

Simply put: It's a consolidated map of informational layers contributed to by various stakeholders and data sources. Click here for an example of an existing Watershed Action Plan.

Watershed Action Plan Community Tools
SCITS and WIPS Statewide Map	Interested to learn about the watershed activity in your area? Want to see your data points?
SCITS Tool	How is water getting into your stream? Complete this tool to help document potential sites for Watershed Improvement Projects.
Community Watershed Improvement Projects	Document your backyard projects.
Trash Surveyor	This survey is used to scout potential stream or land based cleanup areas.
Trash Tracker	This tool is used to enter the number of bags of trash picked up during a stream cleanup and to document it by taking a picture and posting it automatically into online Maps.
Habitat Assessment	Habitat Assessment
Water Chemistry	Chemical Assessment
Macroinvertebrate Assessment	Macroinvertebrate Assessment

Watershed Action Plan Professional Tools
SCITS and WIPS Statewide Map	This map displays all the active SCITS and WIPS tool data.
Source Conveyance Identification Tracker (SCITS Pro)	Identify pipes and other conveyances that are bringing water into your stream.
Watershed Improvement Projects	Document large-scale Watershed Improvement Projects

Watershed Action Plans: Starting with Community Watershed Improvement Projects

(Community WIPs)

The Community WIPs tool is designed to inventory backyard/smaller scale projects. Setting up a Watershed Action Plan in your community is easier than you think. Click here to explore Community Watershed Improvement Projects across North Carolina. Did you organize a stream-side trash clean up? Did you help your neighbor install a rain barrel? We want to hear about it!

The following projects are considered Watershed Improvement Projects:

Downspout Disconnection
Rain Barrel Installation
Rain Garden Installation
Conservation Planting
Pollution Removal
Stream Trash Clean-Up

Share your community watershed improvement projects with the Community Watershed Improvement Projects Tool.

(Note: This tool uses Survey123 and works best on Firefox/Chrome/iOS. If you have trouble inputting your data, please email us.)

More Ways to Get Involved:

These Watershed Action Plans are intended to bring together stakeholders and community partners to take action in their watersheds. Watershed groups, community partners, and other residents are encouraged to contribute to the Watershed Action Plan development in the following ways:

Look at this map and see if you’re in a watershed action planning area.
Look at this map to see what water quality issues are impacting your stream.
Look on this page for an existing watershed group in your area.
Explore existing watershed action plans to find inspiration for your neighborhood: