Watershed Councils are grassroots community groups comprised of citizens who want to help protect, restore and enhance the local watershed where they live, work, and play. They are locally organized, voluntary, non-regulatory organizations, and are intended to be broadly representative of the stakeholders in their respective areas.
A watershed council is “…a voluntary local organization designated by a local government group convened by a county governing body to address the goal of sustaining natural resource and watershed protection and enhancement within a watershed” according to the 1995 Oregon legislature. An important point with that definition is that designation of a watershed council is a local government decision for which no state approval is required. And although watershed councils are designated by local government entities, they are not government entities.
The Johnson Creek Watershed Council is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, although not all watershed councils are. A portion of our funding comes from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB). OWEB is a small state agency created by the legislature and funded principally with state lottery funds and federal pacific salmon and coastal recovery funds to implement the programs and policies of the Oregon Plan.
The Oregon Plan is a comprehensive program for the protection and recovery of species and for the restoration of watersheds throughout this state. The Oregon Plan combines regulatory and other actions of state and federal agencies and local governments with voluntary restoration by private landowners and community members.
