VISION

The Beaver Creek Watershed Association, Inc. (BCWA) was founded by concerned neighbors and local fly fishermen with an objective to scientifically restore, protect, and preserve the water quality of the Beaver Creek Watershed. The BCWA envisions a healthy stream environment capable of supporting a self-sustaining trout population and a "Greenway Corridor" for wildlife all of which will provide a recreational resource.

To facilitate this vision:

1. The BCWA will establish a coalition with Local, State, and Federal agencies and private entities to work together to promote this project and similar interests through education and conservation programs. These programs will be underwritten by funds raised from benefactors and through grants to rehabilitate the Beaver Creek watershed.

2. The BCWA will oversee the use of acquired funds to monitor the status of the Beaver Creek watershed and to reduce sediment and other problems by preserving existing and establishing new riparian buffers and stream bank stabilization through the planting of trees and herbaceous vegetation and maintaining them until their natural re-establishment.

3. The organization will subsidize the cost for engineering and executing stream restoration by applying river morphology practices and other conservation practices where necessary. By removing negative obstructions that will in turn create a healthy habitat for aquatic life.

4. The BCWA will aggressively seek to reduce the detrimental impact of soil, nutrient, and chemical runoff through education on proper water management methods and enlisting the assistance of the local agricultural community and population at large to implement "Best Management Practices".

5. The membership will actively participate in outreach and networking within the local community and will train and coordinate the efforts of volunteers whose labor may be used to meet these goals.

6. The BCWA will serve as a model to educate and mentor area youth interested in the environmental rehabilitation of distressed waters on the importance of a healthy watershed and will seek to raise the consciousness of all local citizenry regarding the Beaver Creek Watershed's larger role in promoting the vigor of downstream waterways.

2009 Items of Intrest

Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing (http://www.projecthealingwaters.org)



BCWA is proud to assist two separate Washington County Schools in receiving grant funds for stormwater retrofit projects that were identified in the Beaver Creek Watershed Report, 2006. In March 2009, both the Greenbrier Elementary School and the Mount Aetna Adventist School were each awarded a grant by the Chesapeake Bay Trust to install a rain garden for the treatment of stormwater discharged by the school building's rooftops. BCWA funded the initial site surveys and rain garden design in order to apply for the grants. The projects included an educational component in which both teachers and students were instructed in watershed ideals and best management practices. BCWA's own, Doug Hutzell oversaw the construction of the rain gardens. Students had an opportunity to get dirty while planting native species in the gardens with various BCWA volunteers. As time goes on, the students will assist with the care and maintenance of the rain garden. It is BCWA's hope that through the successful completion of these projects, the schools will consider partnering for additional stormwater retrofit projects to better protect Beaver Creek.

Please visit Herald-Mail web site to view an article on the Rain Garden project.

Please check out our Rain Garden Pictures