A Project Team is a group of people who are interested in the health and protection of their streams and
watershed. They come together at a local level to plan and implement water quality improvement projects, to
educate themselves and their neighbors about how to protect our resources, and to make a positive impact on
the quality of life within their community.
A group of state and federal partners, the presence of a watershed association, and the water quality of the
stream lead this movement. Many are responsible for the protection and restoration of our streams and
rivers; along with this comes government programs and regulations supported with specific missions to clean
up streams and rivers. To be successful at this task we must coordinate and educate the many contributors to
the pollution problem. The best way to accomplish this is to identify all the people who have a stake in the
health of the watershed and stream, and to facilitate the coordination of their efforts and resources.
In a time of budget reductions and money shortages, Project Teams and Watershed Associations provide local,
state, and federal government programs with a valuable resource. That resource is local buy-in and ownership
of projects. If the local people are involved in what is happening in their back yard, they will support,
protect, and maintain those projects. The end result is sustainability, and communities with control of
their destiny.
Examples of those local stakeholders include participants from planning commissions, conservation districts,
business and industry, landowners, community associations, non-profit organizations, and the list could go
on.
The issues the Project Teams will focus on depend upon the interests of the stakeholders. A few examples of
issues of concern are: county ordinances, agriculture runoff (nitrogen and sediment), industrial pollution,
stream bank erosion, storm runoff on roadsides, management of timber harvest, storm water management, and
development.
This process can be successful. It will not clean up your stream overnight, and it will not guarantee that a
pot full of money will show up in you Watershed Association’s post office box, but it will in fact guarantee
that a committed group of individuals will be successful in implementing priority projects one at a time.
This success will in turn create an awareness of the importance of protecting our resources.
The basic premise of a Project Team is to create a forum for which people can bring their ideas, their
needs, and their resources to be a part of successful watershed protection. If you would like to be a part
of this effort, or if you are not sure which watershed you live in, please contact your Basin Coordinator.
To explore opportunities to interact with WV watershed groups, and more - check out WIB's Calendar.