From the smallest streams to the vast ocean, water connects us all. Healthy rivers, lakes and wetlands sustain wildlife, strengthen communities, create economic opportunity and help protect people from a changing climate. By investing in nature-based solutions to care for these vital places, we can build more resilient communities, create jobs and help protect our neighborhoods. When nature thrives, so do we.

For decades, the Price River ran through Helper City, Utah, but the community had largely lost access to it. Working together, residents and partners like Trout Unlimited used nature-based solutions to help restore the river.

In the Mississippi Alluvial Valley, land is more than a place to farm. It can be a livelihood, a family legacy and a connection to the natural world. Through nature-based solutions like restoring wetlands and replanting native forests, local partners are helping landowners conserve frequently flooded farmland while keeping their land in the family.

For generations, fishing communities on Mexico’s Baja Peninsula have depended on the sea for their livelihoods and way of life. But as once-abundant fish populations declined, local fishers came together to give the ocean time and space to recover. Through nature-based solutions like fish refuges, communities are protecting critical areas from fishing while helping monitor the health of local fisheries.

The work to restore the Colorado River starts where the river begins. In a fire-scarred valley at its headwaters, a dedicated team is using nature-based solutions to bring lost wetlands back and rebuild resilience — helping restore the place that sustains the West.

Across Iowa, farmers are rediscovering an old idea: keeping living roots in the ground for more of the year. Nature-based solutions like relay cropping can help soil hold more water, reduce erosion and lower flood risk for communities downstream. Now, farmers and researchers are gathering new data on these benefits — while passing generations of knowledge on to the farmers who will carry the work forward.

It’s me, Raindrop, here to drop some knowledge on how each of us can protect communities and the planet using our very own superpower… the Power of Nature! Voiced by actor and nature enthusiast Rainn Wilson, Raindrop is shares how natural solutions can be a smart, simple and powerful way to protect water so people and nature can thrive together. Restoring wetlands and forests, using cover crops, and even working with beavers (yes, beavers!) can help communities and nature thrive together.

Meet Raindrop! Voiced by actor and nature enthusiast Rainn Wilson, Raindrop is here to explain the ways that climate change is making waves across our water systems. In Episode 1 of this Walton Family Foundation video series, Raindrop wades into how water change is climate change—and how those changes in water impact everything from droughts to floods to a warming ocean. The good news? By working with the power of nature, we can protect water and the climate. Ready to get your feet wet? Let’s dive deeper!

The Walton Family Foundation is proud to support women leaders creating a Ripple Effect of change to protect water and help people adapt to a changing climate.

Researcher Emily Fairfax created this video to demonstrate how beavers can help protect wetlands and forests from fire. Beaver dams build climate resiliency by slowing water down and storing it in their ponds and the surrounding riparian area. Their wetlands are uniquely resistant to disturbances like droughts and fire.

Up and down the coast of Maine, commercial fishermen are securing a better future for waterfront communities and ensuring sustainable seafood reaches our dinner plates.

Environment Program Director Moira Mcdonald introduces a new Walton Family Foundation storytelling series, The Ripple Effect, featuring women who are leading the way in protecting water resources in the face of climate change.

Watch this featured conversation about the foundation’s support for Planet Forward and the work it’s doing to build a unique movement of young journalists telling the stories of people affected by climate change.

Senior Environment Program Officer Morgan Snyder speaks with Navajo Nation member Heather Tanana, who leads the Universal Access to Clean Water for Tribal Communities Project, about the water challenges and opportunities facing tribal nations.

Environment Program director Moira Mcdonald shares her thoughts on the connection between water and climate change - and what gives her hope about the future.

Environment Program Director Moira Mcdonald discusses the important role sustainable agriculture must play in ensuring healthier rivers and oceans.

Joshua Ventress, a 2022 Walton Family Foundation Environment Program intern, produced this report on how artisanal fishers in the Yucatán Peninsula are embracing sustainable fishing to protect the oceans – and their communities.

We’re in one of the most consequential moments in history but one that also allows us to break from the past and innovate for the future. What does this mean for the conservation movement, and what lessons apply to other challenges?