Michigan Dept. of Environment, Great Lakes, and EnergyThis data represents the extent of nine-element watershed management plans developed by local partners and approved by Michigan's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program as meeting the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) nine-element requirements. The EPA Nine Element Watershed Management Plan is a framework developed by the EPA to guide the development of comprehensive watershed management plans. Data also includes nine element plans that are currently being developed with funding from the NPS Program. An approved nine-element watershed management plan is required to be eligible for NPS Program implementation funds. The data is a compilation of watershed boundaries developed by stakeholders or extracted from the U.S. Geological Survey's Watershed Boundary Dataset. Individual files were merged or appended in ArcGIS Pro. Data is updated annually to include new nine element plan approvals. For additional information contact Peter Vincent at VincentP@Michigan.gov . Field Name Description WaterCourse Name of the waterbody that is the focus of the watershed management plan. Acres Area covered by the watershed management plan in acres SqMiles Area covered by the watershed management plan in square miles. Approval Type of approval the plan received. CMI= Sate of Michigan's Clean Michigan Initiative approval, 319= EPA's nine-element approval. YearApproved Year the plan was approved as meeting EPA's nine-elements or pending for plans currently under development. PlanCurator Primary group that was responsible for developing the watershed management plan. EGLEDistrict EGLE District the watershed management plan dominantly resides in. NPSDistrictStaff EGLE Non-Point Source (NPS) Program District Staff to contact for information on the watershed management plan. PhoneNumber Phone number of NPS Program District Staff. Email Email of NPS Program District Staff PlanGeography The data includes nine-element watershed management plans that are either standalone or "nested" within a larger geographic plan. Nested plans refer to areas that are covered by a nine-element plan but also fall within the boundaries of another, larger nine-element plan. This distinction is primarily for visualization purposes, highlighting the relationship between plans of different geographic extents. Both standalone and nested plans meet the Environmental Protection Agency's nine-element requirements and are eligible for Michigan's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program. There are two options a polygon could fall under: 1. Base (not within the area of another plan) or 2. Nested (within the area of another plan).ArcGIS FeatureLayerhttps://hub.arcgis.com/datasets/bc5296de5a434ce7a21e8c7df42dc027_1engState of Michigan Open Data PortalPublicApproved and Pending Nine-Element Watershed Management Plans [Michigan]Web servicesMichiganLast Modified: 2025-09-30