The Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council (WWBWC) is a non-profit

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 grassroots

Grassroots democracy

Grassroots democracy is a tendency towards designing political processes where as much decision-making authority as practical is shifted to the organization's lowest geographic level of organization: principle of subsidiarity....

 organization in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

s of Washington and Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 that fosters education and cooperation among all parties with interests in the Walla Walla River

Walla Walla River

The Walla Walla River is a tributary of the Columbia River, joining the Columbia just above Wallula Gap in southeastern Washington in the United States. The river flows through Umatilla County, Oregon and Walla Walla County, Washington. Its drainage basin is in area.-Course:The headwaters of the...

 Watershed. Such cooperation and education leads to efforts that improve and maintain a healthy watershed for fish, invertebrates, plants, and people. The WWBWC, located in Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Milton-Freewater is a city in Umatilla County, Oregon, United States. The city received its current name in 1951 when the neighboring rival cities of Milton and Freewater voted to merge. The population was 6,470 at the 2000 census...

 was recognized by the Umatilla County

Umatilla County, Oregon

Umatilla County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is included in the 8 county definition of Eastern Oregon. The county is named for the Umatilla River. In 2010, its population was 75,889...

 Commissioners on May 18, 1994. The council addresses issues on the Oregon portion of the watershed

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent or an area of land where surface water from rain and melting snow or ice converges to a single point, usually the exit of the basin, where the waters join another waterbody, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea, or ocean...

 and collaborates with partners in Washington state.

The mission of the WWBWC is to protect the resources of the Walla Walla Watershed, deal with issues in advance of resource degradation, and enhance the overall health of the watershed, while also protecting, as far as possible, the welfare, customs, and cultures of all citizens residing in the basin.

Grant funding for WWBWC activities has come from a variety of sources, including the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) http://www.oregon.gov/OWEB/index.shtml and the Natural Resources Conservation Service

Natural Resources Conservation Service

The Natural Resources Conservation Service , formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service , is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners and managers.Its name was changed in 1994 during the Presidency of...

through the Walla Walla Watershed Alliance http://www.wwwalliance.org/index1.tpl.

External links

• Walla Walla Basin Watershed Council (official site)