Nothing makes the Puyallup River Watershed Council happier than clean water, a healthy environment and thriving communities.

That’s the never-ending goal of the council, which works with local residents, governments and businesses to protect and enhance the health of the watershed that stretches from Mount Rainier to Tacoma’s Commencement Bay.

The watershed spans about 1,040 square miles (665,000 acres). Its forests, rivers and other environments have the full attention of the council—so much so that last December, the Puget Sound Partnership, a state agency that leads regional restoration and protection of Puget Sound, elevated PRWC to the status of local integrating council (LIO). Being an LIO “strengthens local watershed engagement in the recovery effort,” said Sheida Sahandy, executive director of Puget Sound Partnership, which collaborates with government programs, tribes, scientists, businesses and non-profit organizations.

LIOs take a leadership role in ecosystem plans for everything from salmon and orcas to stormwater runoff and conservation of farmland and forests. The holistic, watershed-based approach is a key to the sustainability of the Puyallup watershed, and Carrie Hernandez, president of the watershed council’s board of directors, said her group “is excited and ready to help.”

Hernandez credited the council’s partners and supporters, “without whom we couldn’t have reached this point” of becoming the 10^th LIO in the regional recovery campaign.

The council’s work fits into a collaborative effort that was highlighted in April when more than 750 scientists, salmon-recovery experts and other citizens from Washington and Oregon convened in Tacoma in April for the seventh biennial Salmon Recovery Conference. The two-day conference marked the 20th anniversary of the federal Salmon Recovery Act.

Speaking about the conference, Kelly Susewind, director of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, noted that recovering and sustaining salmon species “is perhaps the single most important conservation issue” for the state. “The plight of the southern resident orca has highlighted the key role that salmon play in the environment, and it’s encouraging to see so many partners coming to the table with new energy and greater determination.”

In its own efforts to help keep eyes on the prize, Puyallup River Watershed Council has hosted two annual events–the Salmon Homecoming Celebration, a fall festival promoting wildlife, salmon and environmental stewardship, and the Puyallup Watershed Science Symposium, in which professionals in the environmental field join community members with similar interests in discussions of environmental science, studies, and protecting the watershed. The salmon homecoming is taking a break this year. The next symposium is scheduled for December.

Hernandez said the council tries to give the public a greater understanding of how it can make positive impacts on the environment.

“People have direct control over the health of our outdoor spaces. Personal choices in everyday lives affect the world around us, for better or worse,” Hernandez said. And the message connects. Hernandez said some citizens, after attending salmon homecomings, have signed up to volunteer with participating organizations.

PRWC, a non-profit entity, awards grants annually to fellow non-profits and organizations in support of projects that focus on environmental education, stewardship, and restoration in the watershed. The financial awards issued last year totaled $20,000 and helped pay for Pierce Conservation District to install a rain garden in Puyallup and tackle noxious weeds in South Prairie, Citizens for a Healthy Bay to run an environmental-themed summer camp for middle school and high school girls in Tacoma, Puyallup Historical Hatchery Foundation to set up a salmon homecoming, studies by schools in Sumner and Tacoma of plastics pollution and salmon lifecycles, a campaign by the Humane Society to encourage pet owners to pick up their animals’ waste, and Senior Media Services to publish articles in Senior Scene educating the public about surface-water management.

This article is sponsored through a grant partnership between Pierce County Planning and Public Works’ Surface Water Management Division, the Puyallup River Watershed Council, the Industrial Stormwater Community of Interest of the Puyallup Watershed Initiative, and Senior Media Services. The grants support efforts to improve stormwater management, water quality and habitat through education and enhancement activities.

This article is sponsored through a grant partnership between Pierce County Planning and Public Works’ Surface Water Management division, the Puyallup River Watershed Council, the Industrial Stormwater Community of Interest of the Puyallup Watershed Initiative, and Senior Media Services. The grant program supports efforts to improve stormwater management, water quality, and habitat through education and enhancement activities.