Overview of the Water Quality Science Program The WEST program was developed as an educational tool of the Oregon Cattleman's Association. It is designed to enable neighbors, living within the confines of the same local watershed, to understand and properly manage their properties and their watershed. It encourages people to work cooperatively, while allowing them to still maintain their independence. Participants are able to write their own plans and influence their own destinies. The WEST program's primary objective is to enhance the opportunities for farmers and ranchers to discover all of the options available for positive environmental impact on their land. The program's secondary objective is to share the experience of being a caretaker of the land with high school students. The foundation of the project is education workshops that are held around Oregon at no cost to the participants. Interactive learning strategies are used to instruct the participants on watershed ecology, proper functioning condition and water quality / riparian vegetation monitoring. Thus far the WEST program has been tremendously successful. Over 20 watershed groups have been set-up to increase watershed and riparian health. WEST workshops enable landowners to obtain personal data sets of stream temperatures, sediments, and riparian vegetation. From this data, statistical procedures are used to analyze the water quality between stream segments. The workshops also give landowners the tools they need to continue monitoring and collecting data. This allows them to determine if sediments are accumulating and if stream temperatures are changing. Additionally, soil surveys conducted for each landowner give them an understating of where riparian vegetation can be improved and where it is suitable for the site. Some other specific WEST projects which have resulted from the initial workshops include:
Meetings are conducted in various watersheds throughout the state. Participants are invited due to the geographic layout of the watershed. Each participant is a neighbor to the others, thus the actions of one individual impact the other landowners and the watershed in which they reside. Additionally, all family members are encouraged to attend, as the teamwork of husband/wife or intergenerational teams is critical to success. The initial meeting of the WEST program if centered on giving the participants the opportunity to organize, learn about and influence their own destinies. Participants are taught that the logical demarcation for an ecosystem is a watershed. Therefore, when dealing with management decisions, social, economical and ecological ramifications of individual actions must be considered. The underlying theme is the idea of thinking and acting holistically. The group is encouraged to conduct follow-up workshops on themes that are pertinent to them. These meetings enable neighbors to communicate and learn about issues which are affecting their watershed. Some issues that have been discussed at these meetings in the past are goal setting, fisheries habitat, plant physiology, and the legal implications of water issues. There are a variety of tools and materials that are used in the monitoring workshops. These include:
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