Watershed Program

Healthy watersheds and sustainable water sources are essential to the wellbeing of our communities and ecosystems.

Complicated hydrology, varied land use, diverse and numerous organizations involved in water management – all of these create complexity, compounded by rapid population growth, urbanization and development. These pressures have been underway for some time and, indeed, the volumes of water available for use by people in some streams is already fully allocated. The reality of climate change is now a deciding factor in the need for a more proactive approach to drinking water and watershed protection.

While the magnitude of the challenge before us is great, so too is the opportunity. By taking a watercentric view of policy, planning and operational decision making going forward, we can adapt to the realities of a changing climate, protect aquatic ecosystems, and ensure that the people who live here in the future also have safe sources of drinking water to sustain the communities they inherit. This view recognizes the linkages between human needs and the needs of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. It also sees groundwater and surface as one, interconnected whole.

The Drinking Water and Watershed Protection (DWWP) Program is a regional service tasked with protecting the region’s water resources, with the goal of keeping our watersheds and aquifers healthy. This program recognizes that our personal wellbeing, our communities, and our water resources are all interconnected. We strive to protect and cultivate the linkages between human needs and the needs of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems.

Learn more about watersheds and the groups that support them