Learn more about Watershed Restoration

The Bonneville Environmental Foundation is dedicated to restoring watershed ecosystems throughout the United States. Since 1999, BEF has committed over $1.6 million to support community-based initiatives that improve water quality, restore habitat, and bolster native salmon and trout populations. To learn more about how our watershed program works, please watch our animated video that describes how we take a long-term approach at watershed restoration:

For more detailed information on our model watershed program, please visit www.BEFwatersheds.org.

Shedding some light on watersheds

A "watershed" is all the land that drains, or "sheds water," to a particular stream or river. Each watershed carries everything that is happening on the landscape to its river. And as rivers connect and feed into even larger bodies of water, it isn't hard to see how lots of little problems suddenly become one big one for all of us. Rollover the hotspots below to learn more about the need for watershed restoration and examples of restoration practices:

Problem: Intensive logging can cause landslides and fill streams with mud -- a clear-cut problem.

Solution: Sustainable forest managers harvest trees and protect key wildlife habitat. Timber!

Problem: Poorly designed stream crossings can block fish movement. When a fish hits a wall, it says "dam!"

Solution: Full spanning bridges and arched culverts keep the stream connected so that fish and wildlife can freely travel upstream and downstream.

Problem: Overuse of stream water dries up rivers. No water. No fishing. No swimming. No good!

Solution: Water conservation, wetland restoration, groundwater infiltration and in-stream flow leases keep our rivers and streams beautiful and flowing!

Problem: Rain can wash dangerous pollutants directly into streams from roads, lawns, factories and farm fields, which make the water undrinkable or even toxic.

Solution: Swales, wetlands and stream-side buffers of grasses, trees and shrubs intercept runoff and filter out the toxins before they reach our waterways. We'll drink to that.