Building a Stronger Watershed Protection Movement
Watershed groups convened in May to share ideas, learn from each other, and find ways to collaborate during three regional watershed group gatherings. WV Rivers provided information on our new Watershed Organization Capacity Building Program.
Watershed groups have a profound impact on the health of our rivers and streams. But watershed groups throughout the state are underfunded and have little or no staff. Even with these challenges, they still manage to accomplish a great deal!
Thanks to support from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, WV Rivers developed a Watershed Capacity Building program to support the good work of these grassroots organizations.
We listened to watershed groups and developed a series of webinars and workshops that help meet their needs. So far, the Watershed Capacity Building program has reached about 250 people. Training topics included education and outreach, volunteer management, stream restoration, stormwater management, communications, and funding. You can find links to these resources here.
The workshop on stormwater management resulted in the development of a toolkit that communities and organizations can use to develop a campaign to address pollution from stormwater runoff. Download the toolkit here.
This spring, we participated in three regional watershed gatherings across the state to let watershed groups know about our Watershed Capacity Building program. We are proud to partner with watershed organizations and are so inspired by their dedication to their local rivers and streams.
Is your organization interested in capacity building resources? Contact acrowe@wvrivers.org.
