BEF Water Restoration Certificates™
Introducing Water Restoration Certificates™
The first of their kind, BEF Water Restoration Certificates (WRCs) are an effective way for businesses to take responsibility for their water consumption by returning an amount of water equal to what they’ve used back to the environment.
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One BEF WRC represents 1,000 gallons of water restored to a critically dewatered river or stream. Use BEF WRCs to balance direct or indirect water consumption, including water used in office space, operations or embedded in the supply chain.View Illustration
For more information, download our “How It Works” brochure insert.
Supply Locations
Where the healing is happening.
BEF wants to ensure your efforts and contributions have the greatest positive impact on the environment. That’s why the standards and criteria for all BEF Water Restoration Certificates™ (WRCs) projects have been certified by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to ensure that water is returned at a time and place that will produce real environmental benefits. Check out the places where our customers are making a real difference:
- Evans Creek is a small tributary stream that drains into Oregon’s famous Rogue River near the town of Grants Pass, Oregon. BEF, The Freshwater Trust and the Evans Creek landowner have improved late summer stream flow in Evans Creek by 50%. Beavers are now actively pooling up the stream, streamside vegetation is growing vigorously, and steelhead trout and coho salmon should be able to use the tributary again for their summer rearing habitat.
- Montana’s Prickly Pear Creek flows from the Elkhorn Mountains north to the Helena Valley before entering Lake Helena. BEF and the Montana Water Trust are restoring enough water for Prickly Pear Creek to maintain connectivity throughout the irrigation season for the first time in many years, supporting approximately two river miles of additional usable habitat for fish and wildlife.
- The Middle Deschutes is defined as the 35-mile section of the Deschutes River between the city of Bend and Lake Billy Chinook, Oregon. Thanks to the Deschutes River Conservancy and local irrigation districts, over 115 cubic feet per second flowed in the Middle Deschutes during the summer months of a recent irrigation season, helping foster a healthy ecosystem for people, plants and wildlife. A number of fly-fishing guides who regularly fish this area report improved fish populations.
To ensure that each flow restoration project works as a whole within the ecosystem, BEF has established a strict set of criteria that must be met before a project can receive funding. All proposals are evaluated and certified by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) based on how well they satisfy criteria in the following areas:
- Hydrologic
- Biological
- Watershed Planning
- Monitoring
- Economic
- Accountability
- Administrative
For more information, download a summary of our supply criteria.
The Natural Resource Defense Council has partnered with BEF since its inception back in 1998. In 2009, they began matching their New York office’s entire water footprint with independently certified BEF Water Restoration Certificates.
Water Stewardship 101
Businesses that take steps to manage and reduce water usage conserve a valuable resource, protect supply chains, lower business costs and increase competitiveness. Let BEF show you how to get started with water stewardship.Type: PDF, White PaperDownloadVoluntary & Market Based Water Restoration
Want to better understand the market mechanism used by BEF Water Restoration Certificates? Learn how policy reforms are enabling market transactions to reallocate water to ecosystem uses, and explore the financial mechanisms that have evolved to tap our willingness to pay for ecosystem restoration.Type: PDF, White PaperDownloadBEF WRCs - How it Works
Brief description of how BEF Water Restoration Certificates are "created" and how WRCs restore water to critically dewatered rivers and streams.Type: PDFDownloadBEF WRCs - Supply Criteria
Description of the supply criteria that must be met by a project in order to qualify as a source of BEF Water Restoration Certificates.Type: PDFDownloadBEF WRCs - Code of Conduct
Description of the code of conduct by which BEF will abide to ensure that WRCs meet quality and efficacy standards, that Local economic interests are considered and that WRCs are a trusted and transparent product.Type: PDFDownloadBEF WRCs - First Year Expenses
Description of BEF WRCs estimated first year expenses.Type: PDFDownloadBEF WRCS - Business Benefits
Description of the benefits that businesses receive when they purchase BEF Water Restoration Certificates.Type: PDFDownloadBEF Water Restoration Certificates™ Brochure
Overview of Water Restoration Certificates(TM), including product description, benefits and features.Type: PDF, BrochureDownload