Partnerships

• Facilitator Tool Kit - A Guide for Helping Groups Get Results

  The facilitator tool kit is a comprehensive, easy-to-use guide to tools, methods and techniques for assisting groups with planning and improvement projects and interactive meetings. Its clear, simple explanations and directions lead the reader through the selection and application of practical tools that have been tested with university groups.
• River Ecosystem Restoration Initiative Community Partnerships Restoring New Mexico Rivers

  This document profiles restoration success stories from New Mexico. Projects were funded through the River Ecosystem Restoration Initiative.
• Private Landowner Recruitment in the Verde Watershed; Laura Jones
• Large Scale Restoration in the Colorado River Basin- Quantifying Social and Ecological Impacts; Mike Wight
• TC and Xcel Partnership Video
• Desert Rivers Collaborative; Shannon Hatch
• Invasive Species Mapping on Tribal Lands: Engaging Native Young Adults in a Collaborative Pilot Program; Natalie Pyrooz
• Cross-Watershed Network (XWN); Risa Shimoda
• Flood Recovery Update from the Colorado Water Conservation Board; Chris Sturm
  Chris Sturm, Colorado Water Conservation Board, presents on Flood Recovery Update from the Colorado Water Conservation Board at the 2016 Conference.
• Restoration of the Escalante River; Amber Hughes
• Re-establishing Native Habitat on the Upper Gila River of Arizona for Southwestern Willow Flycatcher & Yellow Billed Cuckoo; Shawn Stone
• Palm Desert Sponsor Slide
• Native species recovery after reduction of an invasive tree by biological control with and without active removal

  Authors: Anna A. Shera, Hisham El Waera, Eduardo Gonzáleza,b, Robert Andersona, Annie L. Henrya, Robert Biedrona, PengPeng Yuea

  This report includes a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the vegetation response to a single watershed-scale restoration effort that includes 40 sites along the Dolores River from 2010-2014.
• Dolores River Hydrology Assessment
• Watershed Management Group’s River Run Network; Trevor Hare
   

   

  Watershed Management Group’s River Run Network

   

  Trevor Hare*¹, Lisa Shipek², Catlow Shipek³

   

  ¹River Restoration Biologist, Watershed Management Group, Tucson, Arizona USA; thare@watershedmg.org; 520 906-9854

  ²Executive Director, Watershed Management Group, Tucson, Arizona, USA

  ³Policy and Technical Director, Watershed Management Group, Tucson, Arizona, USA; info@watershedmg.org, www.watershedmg.org

   

   

  In 2014 Watershed Management Group started the River Run Network to foster support for our 50-year vision to restore Tucson’s heritage of flowing rivers and creeks. The network is made up of individuals and organizations that share this vision and are dedicated to taking action to protect remaining riparian areas and restore those we have lost.

   

  The Tucson basin was divided into streamsheds that are made up of stream reaches and adjacent uplands that most influences the stream and have common characteristics and restoration goals. On our interactive web-based map the public can find their area of interest and see how the area connects to the stream through nearby drainages, arroyos, and shallow groundwater areas; and what the impacts are from nearby groundwater wells, residential and commercial developments, and road infrastructure.

  For each streamshed there are specific recommendations on the actions anybody can take to enhance local groundwater infiltration, riparian habitat, and streamflow. Actions focus on conserving water, reducing groundwater demands, increasing recharge, and restoring rivers, creeks, arroyos and riparian habitat. Examples of restoration projects undertaken by WMG will be shared and include work along Tanque Verde Creek and Ciénega Creek.

   

  The River Run Network was recently bolstered by a Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART grant to support the formation of the Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative and development of a Santa Cruz Watershed Restoration Plan. The Collaborative is made up of local, state and federal government agencies, conservation organizations, farmers, water providers, and businesses with a mission “To collaboratively restore the hydrological and ecological function of the watershed. By fostering cooperation, SCWC enables watershed leaders to make well-informed management and policy decisions.”

   

   

   
• 2018 DRRP Annual Report

  2018 Dolores River Restoration Partnership Annual Report 
• Riparian Restoration Partnership Successes, Lessons Learned, and Models for Other Initiatives

  This report synthesizes key programmatic successes and lessons learned from collaborative watershed restoration partnerships in the Colorado River Basin (CRB), with emphasis on partnerships funded by the Walton Family Foundation (WFF or Foundation), through its Freshwater Initiative Program. The intended audience for this report includes potential funders interested in replicating or contributing to a comparable program, as well as other professionals and community members looking to initiate or enhance collaborative restoration efforts within their respective watersheds.

  RiversEdge West (REW), a regional nonprofit with the mission of improving riparian habitat through education, collaboration, and technical assistance, was tasked by the WFF to synthesize this report given its long-term role as a leader and technical assistance provider for the watershed partnership groups profiled in this document.   

  Utilizing its long-standing relationships, REW completed interviews with a suite of partners in an attempt to discern and catalogue programmatic successes and lessons learned across watersheds. Information garnered from these discussions has been compiled, with specific comments remaining anonymous. Other literature was utilized to augment personal communications.
• DRRp MOU 2015-2020
• Local Southwest Utah Partnership Engages Youth to Mitigate Flood Damage, Control Invasive Species, and Restore Native Habitat; Wesley Pickett
   

   

   

  Local Southwest Utah Partnership Engages Youth to Mitigate Flood Damage, Control Invasive Species, and Restore Native Habitat

   

  Wesley Pickett¹*, Ian Torrence², Aaron Wilson³

   

  ¹American Conservation Experience, Hurricane, UT, USA; wpickett@usaconservation.org

  ²American Conservation Experience, Flagstaff, AZ, USA; itorrence@usaconservation.org

  ³American Conservation Experience, Hurricane, UT, USA; awilson@usaconservation.org

   

   

  American Conservation Experience (ACE), a non-profit service organization, provides its young and diverse members with career-building opportunities in the field of restoration through education and hands-on experience. Facilitation of member growth comes partly through the organization's commitment to partners with like-minded federal, state, local, and non-profit land agencies and organizations that assist with member guidance and mentorship. Since the fall of 2014, ACE crews, based out of Hurricane, Utah, worked in conjunction with the Washington County Flood Control Authority (WCFCA). In August of 2012 Washington County, the City of St. George, Washington City, and Santa Clara City entered into an inter-local agency cooperative agreement establishing the Washington County Flood Control Authority.  The purpose of the Flood Control Authority (FCA) is to better share management, administration, and cost responsibilities for regional stormwater drainage and flood control concerns that cross common community boundaries. Projects that were completed under WCFCA guidance engaged youth crews in restoring riparian ecosystems around the Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers while protecting residential and commercial infrastructure in Washington County from potentially future devastating flooding events.

   

  Crews surveyed for salt cedar (Tamarix spp.), Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia), giant reed (Arundo donax), flood debris piles, and damaged infrastructure (like gabion baskets and bridges). This work provided the WCFCA data on areas of infrastructural concern and highlighted priority areas for invasive species removal. ACE crews controlled salt cedar, Russian olive, and giant reed along the riparian corridors of the Virgin and Santa Clara Rivers by mechanical and chemical means. Additionally, along the Santa Clara River, ACE crews revegetated with native plant species in an area that was once clogged with vegetation and beaver dams and was previously at risk for flooding during high water events.

   

  Through monitoring, invasive plant control, and planting native species, ACE’s members played a critical role in the long term ecological restoration in Washington County’s Virgin and Santa Clara River corridors. Completing this work, in partnership with a local organization, advanced members’ restoration experience, knowledge, and skills through hands-on career-building opportunities. This poster will demonstrate how meaningful partnerships provide youth from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to engage in successful restoration projects and connect invasive plant management in a wilderness setting to an urban landscape.