Environmental Benefits

A healthy watershed provides:

• Improved water quality. Natural landscapes and floodplains can help remove pollutants which ensures a healthy home for wildlife.

• Protection against climate change. Watersheds with natural land cover and soil hold onto carbon, which helps reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere.

• Increased resilience. When we leave floodplains and rivers intact, the watershed becomes better at adapting to more extreme weather patterns and changes in precipitation associated with climate change.

• Reduced risk for invasive species. Natural, healthy rivers are more resilient and will support the survival of species that are native to the area, over the survival of non-native invasive species.