The Healthy Watershed Framework: A Blueprint for Restoring Nutrient-Impaired Waterbodies through Integrated Clean Water Act and Farm Bill Conservation Planning and Implementation at the Subwatershed Level

Abstract

Current approaches to Clean Water Act and farm bill conservation programming are not effectively addressing agricultural runoff in the United States. Waters in the United States are reeling from the effects of nutrient pollution. Clean Water Act and farm bill policies can be revised and integrated to support a small-scale watershed planning and implementation approach that will more effectively restore nutrient impaired waterbodies. This Article provides an overview of relevant foundational planning principles and complex problem-solving theories and provides concrete Clean Water Act and farm bill policy recommendations, which are rooted in on-the-ground state and local level policy and project experience.