(See Illustration right) A watershed is a basin-like landform defined by highpoints and ridgelines where all of the rainwater that falls on it, drains eventually to a body of water. Drop by drop, rainwater is channeled into soils, groundwater, creeks, and streams, making its way to larger rivers and eventually the sea. Watersheds come in all shapes and sizes. They cross county, state, and national boundaries.

A vision will define the desired or intended future state of the project area in terms of the community’s fundamental objectives; it will describe where committee members would like the community to be in key economic, environmental and quality of life areas at some point (e.g., 20 years) in the future. The vision must reflect the commonly held values of the community and guide committee participants as they work toward the goals of the project.

A process where two or more people or organizations work together towards common goals by sharing knowledge, learning and building consensus.

Collaborative learning involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product. Collaborative learning requires positive interdependence (a sense of sink or swim together), individual accountability (each of us has to contribute and learn), interpersonal skills (communication, trust, leadership, decision making, and conflict resolution), face-to-face interaction, and processing (reflecting on how well the team is functioning and how to function even better).

The positive ability of an ecosystem or community to adapt itself to the consequences of chronic or catastrophic change.

Social and environmental practices that protect and enhance the human and natural resources needed by future generations to enjoy a quality of life equal to or greater than our own.

Humankind benefits from a multitude of resources and processes that are supplied by natural ecosystems. Collectively, these benefits are known as ecosystem services and include products like clean drinking water and processes such as the decomposition of wastes.

Broadly defined as the act, process, or result of returning a degraded or former habitat to a healthy, self-sustaining condition that resembles as closely as possible its pre-disturbed state.  Examples of restoration include removing material from a filled wetland, increasing tidal flow to a restricted wetland, re-establishing natural river flow, enhancing degraded seafloor habitats, treating runoff to improve water quality, cleaning up contaminated habitats, and managing invasive species.

The study of organisms and their habitats. As there are almost always complex relationships between many organisms in their habitats, the study of ecology most often involves a wide perspective across many levels of the food chain.

The act of observing and recording processes and indicators which can lead to a greater understanding of how things may or may not be changing over time.

This term broadly refers to projects designed to repair or replace degraded habitat, reduce the risk of future impairment, and strive to improve or allow natural watershed processes to function so that all users benefit from ecosystem services.