Watershed management is planning, guiding, and organizing land use so that desired goods and services are produced from a watershed without harming soil productivity and water resources. Goods and services produced from watersheds include food, forage for livestock and wildlife, wood and other forest products, outdoor recreation, wildlife habitat, scenic beauty, and water. Essential to watershed management is the recognition that production must be accompanied by environmental protection.

The specific objectives of watershed management depend on human needs in a particular area and can include: (1) the rehabilitation of degraded lands; (2) the protection of soil and water resources under land use systems that produce multiple products of the land; and (3) the enhancement of water quantity and quality. Rehabilitating degraded lands is sometimes mistakenly thought of as the only role of watershed management. Rehabilitation requires that both the productivity and hydrologic function of degraded lands be restored. This...