Welcome to the IWRP Website

Here you can find information about the Integrated Watershed Restoration Program for Santa Cruz County. It is meant to be a resource for individuals and organizations doing watershed restoration work within the county. We welcome comments and suggestions for ways we can make it more useful to you.

Just what do we mean by "integrated"? As you can see in more detail in the About IWRP and Featured Projects sections, IWRP is seeking to integrate the watershed programs of various state, federal, and local governments with each other and with the work being done by nonprofits and individuals. The good news is that there are lots of active watershed-related organizations and agencies operating in Santa Cruz County. The bad news is that we are not always aware of each other's activities, which can sometimes lead to overlapping efforts while missing other needed projects altogether. We would like to integrate education, outreach, and monitoring into our goals for the future, in addition to completing on-the-ground projects. Finally, since many of the current efforts focus on salmonid restoration, we would like to integrate other species and habitats into our plans for improving the overall health of our watersheds.

Santa Cruz County is in a unique position to demonstrate the benefits of collaboration in restoring watersheds. It is a small county with relatively small watersheds, most of which are contained entirely within the county boundaries. Many of the watersheds have completed assessments and enhancement plans that have identified and prioritized restoration projects. Those of you who have tackled projects in the past know all too well the difficulties in raising funds, particularly for design work, and figuring out the convoluted permit process. As you can see throughout this website, IWRP is bringing together the various funding and permitting agencies to better coordinate how projects are funded and permitted. IWRP is also a forum for discussing other problems you are encountering and collaboratively coming up with solutions. We hope that you will find value in the resources we can provide. Ultimately, though, the success of the program will depend on your creative efforts and willingness to work together to accomplish each other's goals.

Announcements!

Hot off the press - the first issue of Confluence, the IWRP progress report.

Also available: The IWRP Design & Permitting Coordination Process Guidelines Manual - important information for IWRP Project Leads...as well as detailed discussion on design and permitting topics useful for any watershed restoration project.