Ensure Climate Resilient Watersheds

We advocate for watershed health and actions that prioritize water for nature, Tribal water rights, and community needs.

Water Justice & Climate Resilience

We prioritize water and tribal water rights in discussions about resilience, adaptation, restoration, water quality, water allocations, municipal development, forestry, agriculture, industry, and energy.

  • We support municipal climate adaptation plans that value water-for-nature, protect ecological function and meet community needs.

  • We oppose “maladaptation” projects which might address a particular climate impact but that have unacceptable consequences in other areas.

  • We oppose “fast-tracking” including for some climate mitigation measures like renewable energy projects. Beneficial projects must also disclose their impacts, stand up to scrutiny and community right-to-know.

    Tribal water rights and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) must be upheld in all situations.

Climate Impacts on Water: Our Collective Response

We address long-term regional climate impacts on water resources, stream flows, aquifer recharge, and riparian habitat. CELP is at the forefront of discussion about how to better manage water, preserve habitat and protect water quality.

  • Regional water decisions and habitat protection investments should prioritize net-ecological gain instead of managing or mitigating decline.

    We support strong planning that builds resilience in watersheds and protects natural water systems

  • We work to ensure nature-based solutions are prioritized for drought and flood mitigation, both for their direct benefits and for their indirect benefits for aquifer recharge, habitat preservation, and overall ecological value.

  • We work to ensure resilience in the climate we will have 20-40 years from now, not the climate we had in the past.

    Long term climate trends are not looking good for salmon recovery and regional water stability. More intense droughts in summer months (driven by low snowpack) and increased flooding in winter are just two impacts that are expected to increase in coming decades.

Address the Root Causes of the Climate Crisis

We fight for solutions that address the root causes of the climate crisis and that meet needs of the public and nature.

  • We oppose new fossil fuel infrastructure, including new pipelines, export terminals, and extraction.

  • We oppose false solutions such as new hydropower dams, which are not clean energy, create new methane emissions from reservoirs and dam construction, and come at the expense of river health and fish habitat.

  • We call for the exclusion of carbon credits for hydropower dam construction and other false solutions.