The Social Side of Watershed Restoration

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, the photos inside speak volumes about the real possibility of success in restoration efforts. So, why isn’t such achievement more widespread?

Regardless of scale—from large watershed restoration efforts to site-specific water-quality protection projects—you may not be paying enough attention to the social and/or human dimensions of the situation if your technically topnotch efforts haven’t been as successful as you’d like. In this, we look at social aspects of watershed management— why restoration is more than a technical task and why collaboration and community involvement take time and skill to do well but are worth the effort. A few differing approaches to collaborative community-based watershed restoration are outlined, followed by a sampler of ways to apply basic principles of collaboration on the ground. Key resources to help guide public–private collaborative work are provided, along with some policy and research needs whose solutions could help create and maintain effective
collaborative processes.