Friends of the Verde River

In order to achieve and maintain a healthy Verde River system, Friends focuses on restoring habitat, sustaining flows, and promoting community stewardship.\n\nHabitat restoration: Ensure that the riparian corridor of the Verde River and its tributaries provides important habitat for wildlife, supports healthy watershed functions, and contributes to the economy of the region. \n\nSustaining flows: Better manage groundwater as a resource through a variety of efforts to offset groundwater pumping impacts and reduce consumptive use of water.\n\nPromoting community stewardship: Promote the benefits of conservation of the Verde River system to the economy and quality of life to build support for river conservation and the organization.

To restore habitat, we annually set target goals for removal of invasive, nuisance woody plants that are based on springtime monitoring of over 3,000 of riverside habitat in the Verde watershed. Over fall and winter, we have crews in the field conducting habitat restoration. \n\nWe convene a collaborative called the Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition, made up of land managers, agencies, regulators, tribes, conservation groups, and private landowners. We participate in another collaborative group, called the Verde Front, that focuses on stewardship of natural and cultural resources, with an emphasis on sustainable recreation. \n\nOur sustaining flows program operates the Verde River Exchange, an innovative method to keep water in the river while promoting sustainable economic development in the Verde Valley. We sell \u201Cwater off-set credits\u201D to businesses to offset their use of groundwater; the off-set credits have been created when an existing water user voluntarily reduces their water use. \nIn 2019 we created the Verde Watershed Report Card, a science-driving process to understand and monitor the health of the Verde watershed from the viewpoints of habitat, water, and community. \n\nOur community stewardship programming seeks to inspire residents and visitors to support river conservation through volunteerism, regional collaborations, education, and partnerships with businesses and individuals. We host fun events, run volunteer activities, and invite businesses to join our Verde Conservation Partners program to signal their support for our rivers.

Founded as Friends of the Verde River Greenway in 2008, we merged with two other nonprofits and adopted a transformational strategic plan in 2017. At this time, we changed our name and rebranded as Friends of the Verde River. In 2019 we hosted the 2nd State of the Verde Watershed Conference. The conference theme focused on at the results of the first ever Verde Watershed Report Card, which was released in 2020. Friends is a collaborator and we do much of our work through three partnerships: Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition, Verde Front, and Sustaining Flows Coordinating Council. We are broadly supported and a proud member of our community.

In the past five years, we have restored close to 10,000 acres of wildland habitat while working with over 25 agencies and almost 250 private property owners. Our next strategic plan for habitat restoration focuses on maintaining healthy riparian corridors, reducing human-caused erosion, improving and maintaining water quality for aquatic life, and continuing to build coalitions around this work. \n\nEstablishment of the Verde River Exchange is significant, with participation among water off-set credit buyers growing from two in 2016 to eleven in 2019. The program has kept over 20 million gallons of water in the Verde River system. As water supplies are available for the Exchange, we plan to continue growing participation and awareness around the importance of sustaining year-round river flows. \n\nWith the publication of the Verde Watershed Report Card in 2020, we are implementing solutions to improve the health of the rivers and vibrant communities throughout the region that impacts the Verde River system. \nWe have engaged over 30 local, Verde Valley businesses in the Verde Conservation Partners program and continue to bring in new partners to support river conservation. Part of this program includes awarding small grants to local governments and organizations. We will continue to refine and grow this program to engage more \u201Criver-friendly\u201D businesses and cities following sustainable practices.