Community Partnerships

There are over 4,000 local watershed organizations in the United States, representing one of the fastest-growing nonprofit sectors. Locally-based organizations make excellent watershed managers and advocates because they're usually unencumbered by political boundaries, government regulations, and local politics. However, training opportunities, technical support and resources have historically been scarce for these smaller groups. 

The Center is dedicated to working directly with these small watershed organizations on the technical and organizational aspects of watershed management.  Through our Community Watersheds program, we partner with groups to draft grants for watershed assessments, to evaluate regulations and programs, to craft management strategies, or provide other watershed services. Each project involves training elements for watershed organizations in order to help them develop the self-sufficiency and technical skills necessary for assessing and interpreting their watersheds.

Some of our community watershed partners have included:

Antietam Watershed Association, PA
Appoquinimink River Association, DE
Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association, MD
Beaver Creek Watershed Association, MD
Bronx River Alliance, NY
Charles River Watershed Association, CT
Friends of Sligo Creek, MD
Gwynns Falls Watershed Association, MD
Harpeth River Watershed Association, TN
Herring Run Watershed Association, MD
James River Association, VA
Jones Falls Watershed Association, MD
Paxton Creek Watershed and Education Association, PA
Port Tobacco River Conservancy, MD
South River Federation, MD
Spa Creek Conservancy, MD

Over the next few years, we will be expanding this program to partner with more than just a handful of groups per year.  If you are with a small watershed group interested in partnering with the Center, please contact Paul Sturm at pes @ cwp.org, 410-461-8323.

Example projects include:

South River Federation (SRF), MD
The Center worked with SRF from 2002-2006 to create a watershed action plan for the 55-square mile watershed just south of Annapolis. In that time, SRF has grown from an all-volunteer operation to having three full-time staff. Funding for the plan has been provided by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation's Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Program. Together with SRF staff and volunteers, the Center performed field assessments for the entire watershed and crafted a South River Watershed Action Plan to help guide future restoration and protection efforts in the watershed. Read the initial Report on Building Community Watershed Assessment Capacity. From these efforts, SRF staff are now experienced in identifying stormwater retrofits, defining unstable stream reaches and identifying pollution prevention opportunities at marinas, gas stations, nurseries and other potential stormwater hotspots. SRF staff stated that with the "direction and technical assistance from Center staff," the SRF has not only been able to assess conditions and identify priority restoration efforts, but that "perhaps the most important help we have received is the staff training that will help us deliver our new information to local government and to potential funders." In the last few years, SRF has planted over a million oysters in the South River, stabilized several thousand feet of eroding shoreline using natural designs, worked to secure funding for stormwater retrofit projects and an important fish passage project, and removed several tons of trash from the watershed. Many of these projects were identified during the fieldwork for the watershed action plan. For more information about SRF, visit their website at http://www.southriverfederation.net.

Baltimore Watersheds
In an effort to make a real impact on local watersheds, the Center focused its efforts intensively in one geographic area at a time with the desired outcome being increased implementation of recommendations made as part of the watershed planning efforts. The Center decided to begin this new concept in Baltimore, MD, continuing our long-standing relationship with both the local governments and watershed groups in the area. In April 2006, we introduced a unique partnership among the Center and several Baltimore watershed stakeholders to conduct an assessment of restoration opportunities in the Redhouse Run watershed. With funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. EPA’s Targeted Watersheds Grant, the Keith Campbell Foundation, and the Abell Foundation, the Center began its "Baltimore Watersheds" work. The Center worked with staff from Baltimore County, Baltimore City, and the Herring Run (HRWA), Jones Falls (JFWA), and Baltimore Harbor (BHWA) Watershed Associations to conduct an initial assessment of restoration opportunities. Field assessments used were the USA, USSR, Outfall Reconnaissance Inventory and a stormwater retrofit inventory. This provided an opportunity to both identify existing impairments and potential restoration projects, and to train local watershed groups in these techniques so that they can do this work in other Baltimore subwatersheds.

The next stage of this project has been to work with JFWA, HRWA, and Baltimore County to help complete the retrofit assessment efforts in Jones Falls, Herring Run and the Back River. The results of this effort will be written up in a planning document that will summarize an overall implementation strategy to help the City and County, in tandem with the JFWA, HRWA and BHWA, to pursue their TMDL and tributary strategy goals. This should conclude the planning portion of the effort and allow an even greater focus on implementation in the future.

Center for Watershed Protection © 2008
About Us | Donate| Contact | Sitemap
8390 Main Street, 2nd Floor | Ellicott City, MD 21043
Phone: 410-461-8323 | Fax: 410-461-8324 | Email: center@cwp.org