EARTH DAY RIVER AND ROAD CLEANUP

🌍 Earth Day River & Road Cleanup – Saturday, April 26th 🌿

Join us in celebrating Earth Day with action! UPWA is proud to host our annual River and Road Cleanup on Saturday, April 26th from 9:30 AM to 12:00 PM, in partnership with the Pecos Business Association, Santa Fe National Forest, Pecos Canyon State Park, Village of Pecos, Truchas Chapter, and New Mexico Wild.

We’ll kick off the event at 9:30 AM at UPWA’s office with complimentary donuts and coffee to fuel our volunteers. Cleanup supplies including trash grabbers, safety vests, and gloves will be provided on-site. Volunteers will then be assigned to cleanup locations along NM50 or NM63 to help us restore and protect these important corridors.

👉 Click here to register and be part of this community-wide effort to honor the land and waterways we all cherish.

Let’s make a difference—together!

Our Mission

We are a community-based grass-roots organization with a common interest in protecting, maintaining and improving the health of both the watershed and the local economy and cultures. Additional purposes of the UPWA are:

• To provide information about the watershed and serve as a focal point for watershed issues, providing a forum for discussion and development of strategies to meet recreational needs, honor historical uses, and improve the health of the watershed.
• To seek additional funding to improve the condition and management of the Pecos watershed through the implementation of the Watershed Restorative Action Strategy, educational outreach and hands-on restoration projects.
• To organize volunteer projects such as river clean-ups and field trips that engage stakeholders and anyone with an active interest in benefiting the watershed.
• To engage in a process of improving the health of the river itself through monitoring issues of turbidity, excessive nutrient levels and temperatures.
• To review projects with the aim of correcting problems and replicating successful actions in other parts of the watershed.

We cannot do this alone! We are a group of volunteers limited only by our numbers. You can do a lot or a little; no effort is too small. Volunteer for a UPWA project, become a stakeholder, make a tax-deductible donation, attend one of our meetings.

UPWA Goals

• Protect and improve the health of the watershed
• Address significant ecological, and environmental issues in the watershed
• Preserve traditional and cultural uses and benefit the local economy

UPWA is the watershed’s coordinator for all the public and private entities with interests in the watershed; including the National Park Service, Forest Service, NM Department of the Environment, NM Department of Game and Fish, NM Departments of Parks, San Miguel County, Village of Pecos, advocacy groups as well as the numerous private landowners in the watershed.

UPWA receives funding from a mix of government and private grants, plus essential private donations, both in cash and in kind. Grants typically do not cover all of UPWA’s necessary administrative costs and we must rely on private donations to help cover maintaining our office in Pecos and part-time staff. Most UPWA grant funds must be matched with direct or in-kind donations. UPWA conducts events such as river cleanups, field days, and other volunteer projects and utilizes all volunteer hours for such events as match. Grants are typically “reimbursement only” funding which creates a need for “seed capitol” thus making fundraising even more critical for the organization.