Flowing Together ~ Community, Sustainability, & Stream Health
What is Watershed Restoration? Watershed restoration refers to activities aimed at improving the ecological health of a watershed. The Upper San Juan Watershed Enhancement Partnership (WEP) works to improve and protect the health of watersheds, which are areas of land where all water drains to a common body of water such as a river, stream, ditch, or lake.
Why is this important? Restoring watersheds can increase resiliency to wildfire, protect against flooding and drought by regulating water flow, sustain agricultural productivity, preserve biodiversity by maintaining habitats for plants and animals, support recreational opportunities, and improving water quality.
The Upper San Juan WEP is a Colorado nonprofit corporation that is comprised of community-based stakeholders in Pagosa Springs, Colorado. The WEP's current focus is developing and implementing cooperative, sustainable restoration projects that benefit multiple water uses within the Upper San Juan River Basin.
The WEP's activities began in 2018 as a working group convened to guide and inform a watershed assessment of the Upper San Juan River Basin above Pagosa Springs, the Navajo, and the Blanco River basins. The WEP then worked with community members to interpret the findings from the assessment and identify coordinated opportunities to benefit agricultural, environmental, municipal, and recreation water users outlined in an Integrated Water Management Plan (IWMP). The process was completed in early 2022, and the WEP was incorporated as a Colorado nonprofit in 2023 to steward the implementation of identified projects.
Prior to obtaining 501(c)(3) status in August 2024, the WEP partnered with both Trout Unlimited and The Town of Pagosa Springs as fiscal sponsors to launch the first two watershed improvement projects.