Selected nonpoint source pollution control Web sites are provided to assist users with locating additional information. The Web sites are organized in the following categories: agriculture, data, education, federal, forestry, monitoring, onsite/decentralized wastewater, recreation, resource extraction, riparian zone and urban land use.
The links to these Web sites are provided only for the convenience of the users and are not managed by the Division of Water (DOW). The DOW does not control, nor take responsibility for, the content on these sites.
Agriculture
The University of Kentucky cooperative extension offices serve as a link between the counties of the commonwealth and the state's land grant universities to help people improve their lives through an educational process focusing on their issues and needs.
Kentucky's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides leadership and administers programs to help people conserve, improve and sustain our natural resources and environment on private land.
U.S. Department of Agriculture – NRCS Technical Resources Web site - provides technical information, resources, tools, models and data.
The Livestock and Poultry Environmental Stewardship (LPES) Curriculum project provides a national curriculum and supporting educational tools to United States livestock and poultry industry advisers who, in turn, can help producers acquire certification and/or achieve environmentally sustainable production systems. Producers also benefit from the information and assessment tools that the curriculum provides.
Kentucky Division of Conservation’s mission is to assist Kentucky's 121 local conservation districts in the development and implementation of sound soil and water conservation programs to manage, enhance and promote the wise use of the commonwealth's natural resources.
CRS Report for Congress contains an extensive list of Web sites related to agriculture, conservation and the environment.
Water Quality Information Center in the National Agricultural Library provides electronic access to information about water quality and agriculture.
Data
Maps and reports are available to help you learn the condition of your stream or lake. See an online map, 305(b) Water Quality Reports to Congress, 303(d) List of Impaired Streams and other online information sources to learn about the waterway you are interested in.
Education
March is Groundwater Awareness Month.
Groundwater is among the nation's most important natural resource. Groundwater is the source of about 40 percent of the water used for public supply. It provides drinking water for more than 97 percent of the rural population who do not have access to public water-supply systems. Even some major cities rely solely on groundwater for all their needs. Between 30 and 40 percent of the water used for agriculture comes from groundwater. Withdrawals of groundwater are expected to rise in this century as the population increases, treatment costs for surface water increase, and available sites for surface reservoirs become more limited.
What is the difference between surface water and groundwater?
Surface water is water found over the land surface in streams, ponds, marshes, lakes or other fresh (not salty) sources. Groundwater is water occurring in the zone of saturation in an aquifer or soil. Other than the location, one of the primary differences between surface water and groundwater is that groundwater moves much more slowly than surface water. This is because groundwater experiences far more friction as it moves through the pores in soil and rock than surface water experiences as it flows over the Earth's surface. Surface water is much more easily contaminated than groundwater. Filtration through the soil helps clean groundwater.
How does water get underground?
This infiltration process results from gravity, the filling or saturation of spaces between soil particles, and the pressure of overlying water. As water moves past the root zone, the movement is referred to as percolation. Layers of soil and rock that are saturated with water are called aquifers. Aquifers can transport water and supply water to wells, rivers, springs and marshes. A ground surface area that provides a water entry zone for an aquifer is called a recharge area.
Where does our household water come from?
All of the water that we use in our homes comes from either a groundwater source, such as a well or spring, or from a surface water source, such as a river, lake or reservoir.
Kentucky Environmental Education Council (KEEC) is charged with promoting and coordinating environmental education activities in the commonwealth. This link contains standard aligned curriculum, information on where to borrow Enviroscape NPS models, and information on environmental education outreach and professional development opportunities throughout the commonwealth.
The Kentucky Association for Environmental Education (KAEE) is a statewide organization made up of nonformal and formal educators, interested citizens, and agency and business representatives. KAEE offers its members opportunities to share ideas through an annual conference and newsletter. KAEE members assist with the development and implementation of environmental education programs. The national organization that serves the same purposes and further helps to raise the professional standards for environmental educators is the North American Association for Environmental Education.
Federal
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) mission is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment — air, water and land — upon which life depends. For 30 years, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment for the American people.
See EPA’s home page for Nonpoint Source Pollution programs.
Forestry
The Kentucky Master Logger program was instituted under the Kentucky Forest Conservation Act. Every active logging operation must have a certified master logger on site. The Master Logger Program provides instruction in the use of best management practices (BMPs) on logging operations.
American Forests is a world leader in planting trees for environmental restoration, a pioneer in the science and practice of urban forestry, and a primary communicator of the benefits of trees and forests.
Mountain Association of Community Economic Development (MACED) is working to support private landowners' long-term use of their forest resource through good management practices. MACED is working to complete a forestry handbook aimed at supporting the long-term economic and environmental benefits of nonindustrial, privately managed forestland.
The Kentucky Division of Forestry’s mission is to protect and enhance the forest resources of the commonwealth through a public informed of the environmental and economic importance of these resources.
Monitoring
The mission of the American Fisheries Society is to improve the conservation and sustainability of fishery resources and aquatic ecosystems by advancing fisheries and aquatic science and promoting the development of fisheries professionals.
The North American Benthological Society (NABS) is an international scientific organization whose purpose is to promote better understanding of the biotic communities of lake and stream bottoms and their role in aquatic ecosystems by providing media and disseminating new investigation results, new interpretations and other benthological information to aquatic biologists and to the scientific community at large.
The Freshwater Mollusk Conservation Society (FMCS) is an organization devoted to the advocacy for, public education about and conservation science of freshwater mollusks - North America's most imperiled fauna.
U.S. EPA’s Biological Indicators of Watershed Health site contains information on using biological organisms to assess and monitor the health of a watershed.
On-site/Decentralized Wastewater
Kentucky Onsite Wastewater Association/Kentucky Onsite Wastewater Training Center is housed at the Anderson Campus of the Bluegrass Community and Technical College District in Lawrenceburg, Ky.
EPA Onsite and Decentralized Wastewater Systems. EPA has developed this Web site to provide tools to help communities investigate and implement an on-site/decentralized management program. Decentralized treatment systems include individual on-site septic systems, cluster systems and alternative wastewater technologies. Information for home owners regarding the care and use of their on-site system is also provided.
National Onsite Wastewater Recyclers Association. Its mission is to provide leadership and promote the on-site wastewater treatment and recycling industry through education, training, communication and quality tools to support excellence in performance.
The National Small Flows Clearinghouse, funded by the EPA, helps America's small communities and home owners solve their wastewater problems to protect public health and the environment.
Eastern Kentucky PRIDE, or Personal Responsibility In a Desirable Environment, serves 38 counties in southern and eastern Kentucky. The PRIDE initiative focuses people's attention on the pollution problems in the region and looks for ways to fix those problems.
Bluegrass PRIDE will strive to promote environmental awareness and educational programs in 18 central Kentucky counties, their communities and schools, while tackling straight pipe, illegal dump and other environmental cleanup projects.
Recreation
Through education, restoration and research, Tread Lightly! empowers generations to enjoy the outdoors responsibly.
Resource Extraction
The Kentucky Department for Natural Resources (DNR) now contains the various programs and divisions of the former Kentucky Department for Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. The DNR Web site provides information on permits, education, regulations and a number of other topics pertaining to surface mining reclamation.
U.S. Office of Surface Mining is a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Interior with responsibility, in cooperation with the states and Native American tribes, to protect citizens and the environment during mining and reclamation and to reclaim mines abandoned before 1977. The Web site is a one-stop information resource for surface mining news and events.
Riparian Zone
Riparian Buffer Systems, a Web page of the Wye Research and Education Center, University of Maryland, is an excellent resource on riparian buffers including sources of plant material, beneficial species and good Web links. Be sure to check out the slide presentation.
Urban Land Use
The Low-Impact Development Center Inc. is a nonprofit water resources research group with a mission of conducting research and training on low-impact development and sustainable stormwater management.
Urban Design Tools provides watershed managers with a new set of tools and techniques that can be used to meet regulatory and receiving-water protection program goals for urban retrofits, redevelopment projects and new development sites.
Smart Growth Online is a service of the Smart Growth Network. In communities across the nation, there is a growing concern that current development patterns -- dominated by what some call "sprawl" -- are no longer in the long-term interest of our cities, existing suburbs, small towns, rural communities or wilderness areas. Though supportive of growth, communities are questioning the economic costs of abandoning infrastructure in the city, only to rebuild it farther out. Spurring the smart growth movement are demographic shifts, a strong environmental ethic, increased fiscal concerns and a more nuanced view of growth. The result is both a new demand and a new opportunity for smart growth.
SMRC - Stormwater Manager’s Resource Center is designed specifically for stormwater practitioners, local government officials and others who need technical assistance on stormwater management issues.
Nonpoint Education for Municipal Officials Organization is an educational program for local land-use officials that addresses the relationship of land use to natural resource protection. This Web page provides information and technical assistance, publications and slide shows on land use and water quality topics, with an emphasis on the influence of imperviousness in the landscape.
Center for Watershed Protection is a nonprofit 501(c)3 corporation that provides local governments, activists and watershed organizations around the country with the technical tools for protecting some of the nation’s most precious natural resources: our streams, lakes and rivers.
Chicago’s Department of Environment - Green Tech Campus is the third building in the United States to be designed using the highest standards of green technology available. It is the only one of the three that is a renovation of an existing building and the only one accessible by public transportation. It is home to organizations and businesses committed to the environment. Tenants who occupy Chicago Green Tech provide environmental products and services.
Prince George's County, Md., Department of Environmental Resources home page of the Programs and Planning Division offers information on county programs as well as links to online information on watershed management and monitoring and low-impact design concepts.
Best Management Products, Inc. (BMP, Inc.) is an award-winning company that offers simple, unique and cost-effective stormwater quality and quantity control products to help municipalities, developers and commercial interests clean up runoff and comply with mandatory stormwater regulations including NPDES Phase II.
Rain Gardens of West Michigan is a three-year environmental education program focused on stormwater education and on the values of using rain gardens and native plants in the landscape to improve urban and suburban water quality.
Austin, Texas, Water Conservation Program includes details of the city of Austin's water conservation program as well as information about the city's rain barrel program. Water conservation offers programs varying from replacing old toilets to planting a drought-resistant landscape.
Greenroofs.com is the international greenroof industry’s resource and online information portal. Their goal is to inform, promote and inspire the earth-friendly technology of organic greenroof architecture through the interchange of ideas, projects, news, travel, research and market studies.
The goal of Roofscapes Inc. is to introduce, design and install advanced measures for the control of urban runoff and for the preservation of air and water quality. In addition to green roofs, these include bioretention systems and created wetlands. Roofscapes provides up-to-date consulting advice and construction services through a network of licensed landscape contractors.
The Urban Land Institute is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit research and education organization supported by its members. The mission of the Urban Land Institute is to provide responsible leadership in the use of land to enhance the total environment. It offers design resources for housing, retail, office and transportation development.
Sustainable Sources was created in 1993 to provide a one-stop online resource center for sustainability, specifically green building, sustainable agriculture and responsible planning.
The Planning Commissioners Journal home page offers resources for urban planners including a guide to Web resources dealing with urban sprawl, a list of Web links to planning Web sites and resources to search for and order planning reports.
The American Planning Association (APA) is a nonprofit public interest and research organization committed to urban, suburban, regional and rural planning.
University of British Columbia Smart Growth on the Ground is a joint venture of the Design Centre for Sustainability at UBC, the Real Estate Institute of BC and Smart Growth BC aimed at changing the way development occurs in British Columbia. In partnership with selected municipalities, the Smart Growth on the Ground team uses a collaborative process to facilitate the creation of a neighborhood plan; works with the municipality to adopt necessary bylaws, programs and regulatory changes; and assists in the monitoring of initial construction projects. Smart Growth on the Ground projects include both new developments and retrofitted neighborhoods.
International Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMP) Database provides access to BMP performance data in a standardized format for roughly 200 BMP studies conducted over the past 15 years.
Techniques for Tracking, Evaluating and Reporting the Implementation of Nonpoint Source Control Measures - Urban is guidance for developing statistical measures of reduction in nonpoint source pollution as the result of implementing best management practices in urban settings.
U.S. EPA’s Urban Sites offers EPA and non-EPA links to information about urban NPS pollution prevention, low-impact development, model ordinances, funding opportunities and other topics.
