Home > Managing A Watershed

"If there is magic on the planet, it is contained in Water."
- Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey, 1957.

The Association has developed a Watershed Management Program that aims to protect and enhance water quality and natural resources, promote proactive planning and reduce sprawl, and improve the health of the environment.  Our program is designed to provide opportunities for partnerships with various stakeholders because we believe that a watershed approach is the most environmentally and economically sound means of addressing regional issues.

We initiated our Watershed Management Program in response to the fast pace of development, a decline in the quality of streams, problems with local drinking water, and the loss of wetlands and critical habitat throughout the watershed. However, for more than 50 years, the Association has worked throughout the watershed to protect and improve the natural environment.

Our Watershed Management Program focuses on the everyday activities that affect the quality of streams, wetlands, ground water, and forests. By changing everyday behaviors and activities, we will improve the quality of our environment. So whether at home, work, or play, we can all make a difference. Join us in monitoring our local streams, becoming River-Friendly, restoring a stream bank, building partnerships or introducing a local ordinance.

We are now modelling our Program into a series: Watershed Protection: A How-To Series.  By sharing our knowledge and experiences, we seek to provide resources which other organizations can use to protect the landscapes and natural resources that we cherish and need.  The first three in this series of six publications is now available.  Please order your copies of Streambank Restoration: Mud, Sweat, and Volunteers, Watershed Reconnaissance: Getting the Lay of the Land, and Municipal Assessment: Partnering With Local Governments, today.