Watershed Management Plan

The Watershed Management Plan sets forth strategies and recommendations for effective watershed and stormwater management and water quality protection within metropolitan north Georgia.  The Plan outlines tasks and milestones for implementing these recommendations and requirements for local governments as well as regional and state agencies.

Local management measures, undertaken by cities and counties in the Metro Water District who are responsible for stormwater issues in Georgia, form the core of the Watershed Management Plan.  An important component of the measures is a suite of five model ordinances that all local communities are required to adopt and enforce. Additional required and optional measures cover watershed planning, land development, stormwater asset management, pollution prevention, watershed conditions assessment, education and public awareness and resource-specific measures.

The Watershed Management Plan also includes policy recommendations for regional and state agencies to further implementation of watershed management and water resources protection in the Metro Water District.

Please use the links below to view or download the Watershed Management Plan.

• Watershed Management Plan (Complete Document - PDF 43MB)
• Cover and Table of Contents 
• Executive Summary 
• Section 1: Introduction 
• Section 2: Rationale for Watershed Management 
• Section 3: Federal and State Regulations 
• Section 4: River Basin Profiles 
• Section 5: Local Management Measures 
• Section 6: Optional Local Management Measures 
• Section 7: State and Regional Policy Recommendations 
• Section 8: Education and Public Awareness 
• Section 9: Implementation Plan 
• Section 10: Future Plan Evaluation 
• Appendix A: Model Ordinances 
• Appendix B: Model Results From 2003

Note:  On May 7, 2009 the Metro Water District Board adopted the updated Watershed Management Plan.  The updated plan above replaces the September 2003 District-wide Watershed Management Plan as amended.