Federal, state, and tribal programs can help produce clean water and healthy watersheds, but the commitments and resources of local communities, private landowners, and citizens are essential to clean up and maintain lakes, rivers, coasts, and wetlands. Effective and strong partnerships are the foundation for both restoring impaired watersheds and sustaining watersheds that are currently healthy. Federal and state governments should commit to building and supporting partnerships among public and private parties, wherever and whenever they can, to restore and protect the health of all aquatic systems on a watershed basis. The benefits of watershed partnerships are well documented. They build grassroots constituencies with a commitment to long-term environmental improvements.
Collaboration can tap reservoirs of energy, talent, and inspiration.
Watershed partnerships can also generate new ideas and information, help defuse polarization, and lead to a common understanding of individual roles, priorities, and responsibilities. By drawing attention to the cumulative impacts of various human activities and focusing efforts on the most critical problems within each watershed, partnerships provide opportunities for communities to build sustainable futures. Watershed partnerships can also promote a more efficient use of limited financial and human resources and can identify innovative and efficient means of meeting water quality goals. Typically, the people involved in watershed partnerships are those who live and work in the watershed. Depending on the watershed, partnerships may include homeowners, farmers and ranchers, fishermen, community leaders, members of civic and environmental groups, water and sewer system managers, business and government representatives, and other watershed residents.