A webinar highlighting EPA’s resource The Economic Benefits of Protecting Healthy Watersheds is scheduled for Tuesday, December 1, 2026, from 1:00–2:30 p.m. EST. Presentations will highlight the measurable economic returns of watershed protection and provide a primer on healthy watersheds and economic valuation.

Why Healthy Watersheds Matter

Healthy watersheds are characterized by natural and well-managed working and developed lands that support resilient aquatic systems, including intact and connected aquatic habitat and good water quality conditions. Healthy watersheds provide a variety of benefits, or ecosystem services, critical to our economic and social well-being.

Ecosystem goods and services are the benefits that humans receive from nature. These benefits underpin almost every aspect of human well-being, including our food and water, security, health, and economy. Common methods for estimating the economic value provided by ecosystem services include market price, stated preference, revealed preference, and benefits transfer.

Healthy watersheds can lower drinking water treatment costs by serving as natural filters that remove pollutants from source water. Studies have documented the relationship between treatment costs and source water conditions, including increased treatment costs associated with elevated levels of contaminants such as turbidity, nitrate, and organic carbon.

Webinar Details and Registration

Date: Tuesday, December 1, 2026, 1:00–2:30 p.m. EST

Topic: The Economic Benefits of Protecting Healthy Watersheds

Register for the healthy watersheds webinar.

Speakers

• Dr. Tammy Newcomer-Johnson and Dr. Leah Sharpe, USEPA Office of Applied Science and Environmental Solutions
• Dr. Peter Caldwell, USDA U.S. Forest Service, Southern Research Station
• Dr. Roger von Haefen, NC State University, Center for Environmental and Resource Economics Policy
• Dr. Marie Gutgesell, ORISE USDA U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with the option to save the webinar information to your calendar. EPA will not provide a calendar hold directly to registrants.

Please contact Keyyana Blount (blount.keyyana@epa.gov) or Steve Epting (epting.steve@epa.gov) with any questions.

Keyyana Blount & Steve Epting
USEPA Healthy Watersheds Program

KnowYourH2O Editorial Note

Hopefully, the webinar will discuss how to fix urban areas that have paved the land surface and encroached on waterways and riparian zones, and how poor urban design has contributed to unhealthy watershed conditions.

Our Featured Free Tool:   Surface Water Quality Index Calculator 

Free Drinking Water Guide:  Know Your H20 - Our Drinking Water