The public is invited to participate in the future planning of the Puyallup River Watershed Council (PRWC) at their annual retreat on Dec. 2. The retreat will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at the Center for Urban Waters, 326 East D Street in Tacoma.

The Puyallup River Watershed Council works to restore, protect and enhance the environmental, economic and cultural health of the watershed from Mount Rainier to Commencement Bay. The watershed includes rivers and streams that drain into the Puyallup River.

The retreat will include a welcome by Pierce County Executive Pat McCarthy. Joel Baker, Ph.D., Science Director at the Center for Urban Waters, will discuss the vital signs used by the Puget Sound Partnership to measure the health of Puget Sound. For more information about monitoring the health of Puget Sound, visit http://www.psp.wa.gov/vitalsigns .

“We envision a watershed with clean water and healthy human, fish and wildlife populations,” Executive McCarthy said.

Lorin Reinelt, Pierce County representative on the watershed council, said they are looking for new members who want to get involved. “We want people to bring their ideas and expectations for the future of PRWC and their creativity and enthusiasm for building a stronger, more effective watershed council,” he said.

If you are interested in attending, RSVP to Lisa Spurrier at (253) 798-6158 or lspurri@co.pierce.wa.us .

The watershed council hosts monthly meetings on a variety of topics affecting the watershed on the fourth Wednesday of each month. Everyone is welcome to attend. Visit http://www.piercecountywa.org/prwc for the latest meeting agenda and the retreat agenda. Email Lisa Spurrier to be added to the email list.