History of the Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association

The Wood Pawcatuck Watershed Association (WPWA) was established in 1984 in response to a groundswell of interest generated by a National Park
Service study conduted that year, which identified the Wood and Pawcatuck
Rivers as "...unique and irreplacable resources." W. Edward Wood, at a
party in his honor upon leaving the Director of RIDEM position to take the
helm at RIDOT, was presented with a check made payable to Wood-Pawcatuck Watershed Association, prompting the formation and incorporation of the organization.
In 1987, with a three-year grant from RI Foundation, WPWA leased its first oficial office space, and hired its first part-time staff, an executive director, to advance the association from its humble beginnings to a recognized conservation agency. That same year, volunteer water quality monitoring was born within the watershed, launching what is now known as URI Watershed Watch.
In 1992, the executive director position became full-time, and in 1993,
a grant award was received from Champlin Foundations to locate a permanent
river-front headquarters for WPWA on the Wood River at Barberville Dam.
In April of 1999, WPWA was designated Watershed Council for the
Pawcatuck by the RI Rivers Council, giving it legal authority to advocate
for the Pawcatuck Watershed. In the Spring of 2001, WPWA and RIDEM
completed the project of locating a public, handicapped-accessible fishing
pier at the site of WPWA headquarters.