The Watershed Project is an environmental

nonprofit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

based in the

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

’s Richmond Field Station. Its mission is "To inspire

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

communities to understand, appreciate and protect our local watersheds."

History

The Watershed Project started in 1987 as Education Department of San Francisco Estuary Institute, a nonprofit devoted to research and monitoring of the

San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the United States, U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, California, San Jose, and Oakland, Ca ...

. The mission then was to educate local residents about the dangers of

urban runoff Urban runoff is surface runoff of rainwater, landscape irrigation, and car washing created by urbanization. Impervious surfaces (roads, parking lots and sidewalks) are constructed during land development. During rain , storms and other precipi ...

human health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organizat ...

and the environment. In 1997, the Department became its own 501(c)(3): The Aquatic Outreach Institute. In 2004, it changed its name to The Watershed Project. They serve the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area in

Northern California Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...

. The Watershed Project has won awards at local, state and national levels.

Programs

* Healthy Watersheds Preventing pollution from entering the watershed through education and cleanup events. For several years, The Watershed Project has coordinated Coastal Cleanup Day activities throughout the region and hosted its own trash-removal events. * Greening Urban Watersheds This program builds and maintains Low-impact development projects in the Bay Area, including

rain garden Rain gardens, also called bioretention facilities, are one of a variety of practices designed to increase rain runoff reabsorption by the soil. They can also be used to treat polluted stormwater runoff. Rain gardens are designed landscape sites t ...

s and

bioswales Bioswales are channels designed to concentrate and convey stormwater runoff while removing debris and pollution. Bioswales can also be beneficial in recharging groundwater. Bioswales are typically vegetated, mulched, or xeriscaped. They co ...

. In recent years, the program has focused on the

Richmond Greenway The Richmond Greenway is a pedestrian and bicycle path in Richmond, California.artificial reef An artificial reef is a human-created underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, to control erosion, block ship passage, block the use of trawling nets, or improve surfing S ...

s at

Point Pinole Point Pinole Regional Shoreline is a regional park on the shores of the San Pablo Bay, California (the northern arm of the San Francisco Bay), in the United States. It is approximately in area, and is operated by the East Bay Regional Park Dis ...

and volunteer monitoring of local oyster reefs. The Watershed Project has partnered to with local oyster bars to publicize these activities and raise funds for the organization. * Environmental education The Watershed Project frequently partners with local schools to lead field trips and educate students about their local habitats. * Green Careers The Watershed Project employs high school and college interns to assist in its programs and to facilitate careers in environmental planning and education.

References

External links

* http://squidlist.com/events/index.php?com=detail&eID=185321&year=2009&month=09 * http://dogood.sfgate.com/nonprofits/the-watershed-project# * http://www.napaenvironmentaled.org/pdfs/watershed_proj.pdf * http://www.nps.gov/pwro/rtca/ca_state_fact_sheet_2009.pdf * http://www.thewatershedproject.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Watershed Project Environmental organizations based in the San Francisco Bay Area San Francisco Bay Water resource policy Richmond, California