The Center Mission Statement

The Center Mission

Founded in 1992, the Center for Watershed Protection is a non-profit 501(c)3 corporation that provides local governments, activists, and watershed organizations around the country with the technical tools for protecting some of the nation's most precious natural resources: our streams, lakes and rivers. The Center has developed and disseminated a multi-disciplinary strategy to watershed protection that encompasses watershed planning, watershed restoration, stormwater management, watershed research, better site design, education and outreach, and watershed training. Read our 2006 Annual Report

As techniques for protecting small watersheds from the detrimental effects of sprawling development and the accompanying impervious cover continue to improve, the Center for Watershed Protection has been at the heart of this newly emerging practice. Since our inception, the Center has:

Launched our eleventh local site planning roundtable to change local development rules
Finished our 17th local or state stormwater manual that afforded greater protection for streams
Started our 48th plan to protect or restore a local watershed
Completed our 60th watershed research project
Wrote our 150th Techniques article on the latest watershed protection research
Responded to our 7,000th request for watershed advice
Trained our 15,000th person at one of our intensive watershed workshops
Shipped out our 30,000th "how to" technical publication
Surpassed 300,000 visits to our award-winning web site

For more detailed information about what we do at the Center, you might want to download our Annual Report in .pdf format, or look at some of our projects.

How Is the Center Supported?

The Center is supported by five major revenue sources: state and federal grants, contracts with local governments, subscription and publication sales, workshop fees, and private foundations. Annual revenue has climbed from $77,362 in 1993 to more than a million dollars for fiscal year 2001. As well, the Center is proud to have 100% participation in our Board giving program. The Center operates with a very low overhead rate; nearly 95% of all income is used directly for program expenses. The Center does not participate in lobbying activities or political advocacy. Copies of audited annual financial statements and IRS 990 returns are available for inspection at the Center's headquarters.