About Protect Our Water Jackson Hole

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Our Vision

CLEAN WATER NOW, AND FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS.

 

Our Mission

TO SERVE AS A POWERFUL ADVOCATE FOR PROTECTING AND RESTORING THE SURFACE WATERS AND GROUNDWATER IN TETON COUNTY, WYOMING.

 

Our Values

SCIENCE-BASED: We rely on facts and make science accessible and understandable to all.

COLLABORATIVE: We are effective and result-focused, knowing that we must all work together to ensure clean water.

DEDICATED: Our only priority is to protect and restore water quality in Teton County.

FORWARD THINKING: We stay up to date on current research and offer innovative solutions.

COMMUNITY ADVOCATE: We educate the public and electeds about best practices for water quality protection and restoration.

About POWJH

We are a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and protecting water quality in Jackson Hole.

At first glance, Jackson Hole’s water resources seem to be a picture of health. Look closer, and you’ll find that water pollution in our valley is being caused by excess nutrients that threaten serious damage to human health, the environment, and the economy across Teton County, Wyoming.

Excess nutrients tied to our growing population are degrading water quality throughout Teton County. Disturbing examples of nutrient pollution are already evident in the Hoback area and Kelly, WY, and elevated nitrate levels in groundwater, a sign of contamination, have been documented at several locations across Teton County. 

Climate change, a growing population, and increasing tourism will likely raise the problem of nutrient pollution to crisis levels if action is not taken. Essential solutions to our nutrient pollution problems are now underway but much more must be done. 

Protect Our Water Jackson Hole is focused on reducing nutrients from sources such as wastewater, landscape fertilizer, pets, and livestock through county-wide solutions.

History as Friends of Fish Creek

Our original purpose was solving the nutrient pollution issues on the Westbank as Friends of Fish Creek. However, by 2021 it become abundantly evident that the effects of nutrient pollution evident in Fish Creek extends far beyond the Westbank of the Snake River, seriously threatening water quality throughout Jackson Hole. 

The 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Friends of Fish Creek (FOFC) was created in 2014 by a group of long-time Westbank residents who were frustrated after little was being done to address nutrient pollution in Fish Creek. Nutrient pollution in the Fish Creek watershed was well documented in a series of scientific investigations completed by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) from 2004-2012. FOFC initiated the formation of the Fish Creek Stakeholders group to work collaboratively with local government, business owners, and residents to reduce nutrient pollution from common sources. The group completed a scientific investigation with the USGS in 2015 that estimated nutrient inputs to the Fish Creek and proceeded to conduct research and implement programs to reduce nutrient pollution. It was during this process that it became evident that nutrient pollution extended beyond the Westbank of the Snake River and poses a serious threat to human health, the environment, and economy of Teton County, Wyoming. As a result, in 2019 Friends of Fish Creek became Protect Our Water Jackson Hole.