While in a store with the kids, you walk past the plant section and see a Watershed Wealth kiosk. Its offers free CDs, and showcases special products that are made from Watershed Wealth grown plants. It has a built in computer screen where you can click a map to see your house, local Watershed Wealth planting sites, and Delivery Agents nearby. There’s a sign that indicates the plants around the kiosk are ones you can grow on your own property for Delivery Agents to harvest and get part of the profit. You hear another customer remark they already downloaded the files on the CD from the website and doing Watershed Wealth is an easy fun activity.

When you get home, you run the CD in your computer. It gives you a great deal of information on Watershed Wealth Cooperative and native plant gardening and maintenance, plus interactively connects to WWC’s website which has valuable information on local conditions and recommended plants, planting, care and value in habitat, and the financial terms of getting involved. The website shows you live data feeds from Watershed Wealth monitoring sites that use maps that can show multiple overlays for everything from climatic zone, to species presence to government jurisdiction maps and local Watershed Centres where material is processed. The computer recognizes where you are, so the necessary contacts and permitting forms for all the right government agent show up, along with native plant selections & growing information, coupons for native material & hand tools, the name of the closest WWC Delivery Agent or contractor, and the nearest collection point for harvested materials. There’s current product market information on plants and products, an explanation of how the profits from the Co-op go to fund a local stewardship group, and a website for that group. You can shop and order Watershed Wealth products on the site, then direct that the sales profits go to your local stewardship group. The site is linked to others such as Salmon Center which has news feeds, blogs & forums, personal garden calendars, "ask an expert" section and other interactive information. Your request for a free property assessment contact is forwarded to the nearest Delivery Agent for service follow up.

A farmer is having trouble making ends meet. Equipment is under-utilized, crops barely make a profit at best and labour is expensive and difficult to find. This farmer has considered organic certification but the transition period will threaten farm income. A farm advisor suggests beming a Watershed Wealth Cooperative Delivery Agent which the farmer investigates and decides to take WWC’s training for. The Co-op assesses the farmer’s capacity and decides that the main needs for him to become a DA are training in habitat issues including regulations, methods and materials, and best management practices including monitoring protocols. This training is flexibly available online to him and other people with different backgrounds through WWC website and through seminars, and site visits and other in-person events scheduled to accommodate his operating business.

After training, the farmer who is now a DA, begins to service Watershed Wealth clients in the area. These clients include other small farmers, developers, local governments, stewardship groups and homeowners. As a project begins, a site scout from the Co-op visits the site, talks to the owner and prepares an initial plan. The DA reviews the plan, locates plants, seeds and other materials and prepares an estimate for site-prep and installation (and the Coop’s internal support team helps him anywhere during this process he needs it). The Co-op assists the DA in negotiating the contract for the work as well as other agreements that outline the long-term commitments, property access and any profit sharing structure.

After installation, the DA visits the site monthly to monitor both habitat/scientific and business elements. If there is an onsite datalogger, that data has either been already transmitted wirelessly into WWC’s habitat / crop information system, or downloaded to a portable device. A Co-op quality control agent visits once a year, or when requested by DA or owner.

When plants reach harvestable stage, the owner is notified and arrangements for harvest are made. Collection of plant material is supervised by the DA and done according to strict certification protocols developed by the Co-op. The raw products are warehoused, or processed for value added production as necessary for the market. The Co-op coordinates sale and shipping of products. Where possible local sales through farmers’ markets and other retail outlets are encouraged. The next tier of market is the small local producers of value-added botanical products such as cosmetics, teas, herbal medicines and crafts of many kinds. Beyond that, products will be packaged for sale through the Co-op online store which sells to individuals and businesses on both a retail and wholesale level. Any remaining products enter the commodity markets. When sales are complete the landowner and DA receive percentages of the revenue based on individual contracts.

The additional capital, knowledge and support provided by being a WWC DA allows the farmer to establish an organic native plant nursery as well as to grow other specific species for sale through Co-op or use by other Delivery Agents. This nursery provides material for other WWC projects, "do-it-yourself" homeowner projects and the general public nursery market if desired.

A small scale value-added producer (who makes food, soap, teas, nutraceuticals, or crafts with plant-sourced ingredients) has a product that many people love and it sells readily at farmers markets, bazaars and a few small shops. A website offers the product but is lost in the flood of online stores. Fees for ebay or Amazon stores are unaffordable. Larger retailers require that the product be available through usual distribution channels. Supply of quality raw product is erratic and prices volatile. The business also is limited by lack of access to professional equipment for manufacture and packaging.

The producer hears about the Watershed Wealth Co-op and joins. The Co-op helps locate a source of local, certified raw product at a stable price. Part of the manufacturing process is moved to a WWC Community Processing Facility to take advantage of more professional equipment. The product is sold through the Co-op online store and offered to retailers through the Co-op wholesale distribution system in addition to the existing sales. The producer uses the Co-op online resource center for free accounting and other business software as well as informational and educational material including WWC certification courses. A Co-op product consultant helps develop the product line and the branding and promotional material. The products are promoted through WWCs online advertising, tradeshow appearances and media campaigns.

A neglected property lies along a small, salmon bearing stream in your local watershed. The habitat has been degraded by illegal plant removal, illegal dumping, unchecked erosion and invasive species. A Watershed Wealth Coop Delivery Agent is engaged for restoration. A survey of the site followed by a consultation with the appropriate agencies is performed. A restoration plan is developed and approved and necessary permits obtained. After clean-up, invasive plants are removed and the area is re-planted with a range of native species. Monitoring dataloggers are installed. The DA returns on a monthly basis for photos, data download and physical inspection. As plantings reach harvestable stage the DA performs a carefully recorded harvest under WWP guidelines previously approved by agencies. The landowner receives an agreed percentage of the revenue from the harvested material.

Watershed Wealth sites occur anywhere in your watershed, streamside or not. We arrange work on private or public lands. Advocates for habitat can tell us about abandoned lots, under used agricultural land, degraded forest areas, rooftops, parks, roadside right of ways or any other place plants might grow, and we'll work with them, landowners and agencies to put it back into ecologically and economically productive habitat.