Eagle River Watershed Council

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
204448864
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Eagle, CO, USA
Phone
9708275406
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Water Resource, Wetlands Conservation and Management

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,107,789
Expenses
$1,115,143
Assets
$759,082
Liabilities
$220,433

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER WADDEN (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • VICKI FLYNN (EXECUTIVE DI): $117,064 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Eagle river watershed council, dba eagle river coalition, advocates for the health of the upper Colorado and eagle river basins through research, education and projects. The watershed council strives to protect and enhance the high-quality natural, scenic and economic values that our rivers and tributaries provide to the citizens, visitors and wildlife of the eagle river and Colorado river watersheds located in eagle county.

What it reported doing in 2025

Water quality monitoring and assessment program: this is a coordinated effort led by the watershed council to collect, analyze and report on water quality data at 75 sites on the eagle river with 12 other entities within the eagle valley. Through this effort, we are able to make guided decisions on restoration efforts, education focuses and provide context to community decision-makers regarding water quality within the watershed. 2025 expense 153,495 eagle river fund: as our community completes the eagle river community water plan, there will be a strong list of projects, policies, and programs that will need to be implemented in order to mitigate undesirable future conditions. 2025 expense 92,160 cleanups: the community pride highway cleanup and eagle river cleanup are two longstanding, community-wide events that mobilize hundreds of volunteers and remove literal tons of trash from our watershed. This helps to protect the natural resource that our rivers and streams provide as a drinking water source, recreation opportunities, and habitat for numerous flora and fauna, while also providing beautification to our watershed for passersby, visitors, and locals alike. During 2025, we removed over 20 tons of trash during our cleanups. 2025 expense 35,473

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 66% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 84.5%; rating input score 84
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $26.26 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.7%; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.68; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.29; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 10.5%; rating input score 36; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10.8% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 84.5% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 11 of 11 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $934K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 12 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 33 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2016 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 20/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 36/100.