Upcoming Meetings

Scope and Purpose

The Local Leadership Workgroup was established in 2014 after the signing of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. This workgroup exists to accomplish the local leadership outcome outlined in the Agreement. For more information, visit the local leadership management strategy page.

Subscribe to the Watershed Currents Newsletter: Resources for Local Governments

This bi-monthly newsletter features curated inspirational and informative resources and content for local governments within the Chesapeake Bay watershed region.

Sign up for Watershed Currents‍

Projects and Resources

Protect Local Waterways Website

The Protect Local Waterways Website is an online resource hub created to support decision-making by local officials. Local leaders make decisions that set the course for their community and local government actions determine the health and vitality of their jurisdiction, as well as that of local waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. Local officials can achieve mutually beneficial outcomes by prioritizing local economic development, infrastructure resiliency, public health, and education, while also protecting your environment.

The Protect Local Waterways website's extensive learning library, titled "A Local Government Guide to the Chesapeake Bay," contains 11 highly visual and succinct educational modules with companion fact sheets, infographics, and short videos.

Visit Protectlocalwaterways.org to learn more!

Watershed Currents Newsletter: Resources for Local Governments

Watershed Currents is a bi-monthly curated newsletter that highlights local case studies and provides inspirational and informative resources for local governments and interested parties within the Chesapeake Bay watershed region. Each newsletter will be themed-focused and organized by local priorities impacting local government communities today. Please see below for past editions of the Newsletter:

September 2024: Tackling Toxic & Emerging Contaminants

July 2024: Navigating Extreme Heat

May 2024: How Are Local Governments Using New Federal Funding?

March 2024: Green Infrastructure Maintenance

January 2024: Prioritizing Green Growth

November 2023: Latest Chesapeake Bay Program Happenings

September 2023: Launching ProtectLocalWaterways.org

July 2023: Roads & Stormwater Runoff

May 2023: Technical Assistance

March 2023: Solar

January 2023: Environmental Health

November 2022: Behaviour Change

September 2022: Hazard Mitigation

July 2022: Stream Restoration/Health

Publications

Chesapeake Watershed Local Leadership Development Programs

The 2014 Chesapeake Watershed Agreement establishes the goal to “[c]ontinually increase the knowledge and capacity of local officials on issues related to water resources and the implementation of economic and policy incentives that will support local conservation efforts.” Environmental Leadership Strategies (ELS) researched the needs of local officials and assessed the capacity of existing programs to meet these needs. In this report, ELS makes recommendations on how to support local officials to advance the Watershed Agreement's Local Leadership Outcome.

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Strategic Outreach Education Program for Local Elected Officials

This report, prepared by the Ecologix Group, Inc. under contract to the Chesapeake Bay Trust, provides recommendations for the design of a strategic outreach and education program for elected officials that will most cost-effectively achieve the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement Local Leadership Outcome -- Continually increase the knowledge and capacity of local officials on issues related to water resources and in the implementation of economic and policy incentives that will support local conservation actions.

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Members

Martha Narvaez (Chair), University of Delaware
Address:
University of Delaware
Newark, Delaware 19716

Email:  mcorrozi@udel.edu
Les Knapp (Vice Chair), Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:
169 Conduit St
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  lknapp@mdcounties.org
Rick Mittler (Coordinator), Local Leadership Workgroup Coordinator, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
Address:
612 Hull St Suite 101C
Richmond, Virginia 23224

Email:  rmittler@allianceforthebay.org
Phone:  804-775-0951
Erin Sonnenburg (Staffer), Environmental Management Staffer, Chesapeake Research Consortium
Address:
1750 Forest Drive Suite 130
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  sonnenburge@chesapeake.org
Angelica Bailey Thupari
Address:


Email:  angelicab@mdmunicipal.org
Dominic Butchko, Maryland Association of Counties
Address:


Email:  dbutchko@mdcounties.org
Pat Calvert, Virginia Conservation Network
Address:
103 E Main St
Suite #1
Richmond, Virginia 23219

Email:  pat@vcnva.org
Nicole Christ, Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:


Email:  nicole.christ@maryland.gov
Jen Cotting, Environmental Finance Center - UMD
Address:
7480 Preinkert Drive
Preinkert Hall
College Park, Maryland 20742

Email:  jcotting@umd.edu
Carrie Decker, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:
580 Taylor Avenue
Tawes State Office Building
Annaoplis, Maryland 21401

Email:  CDecker@dnr.state.md.us
Phone:  (410) 260-8723
Claudia Donegan, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
Address:


Email:  claudia.donegan@maryland.gov
Liz Feinberg, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Address:
000
Paoli, Pennsylvania 19301

Email:  liz.feinberg63@gmail.com
Kate Fritz, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
Address:
14741 Governor Oden Bowie Drive
Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772

Email:  Katharine.Fritz@ppd.mncppc.org
Phone:  (301) 952-5402
Ronald Grutza, Pennsylvania State Association of Boroughs (PSAB)
Address:


Email:  rgrutza@boroughs.org
Mark Hoffman, Chesapeake Bay Commission
Address:
60 West Street
Suite 406
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  mhoffman@chesbay.us
Phone:  (410) 263-3420
James Hutzler, Virginia Association of Counties (VA)
Address:


Email:  jhutzler@vaco.org
Les Knapp, Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:
169 Conduit St
Annapolis, Maryland 21401

Email:  lknapp@mdcounties.org
Megan Lehman, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Address:
400 Market St
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17101

Email:  meglehman@pa.gov
Shannon Moore, Frederick County (MD)
Address:
12 E. Church St.
Frederick, Maryland 21701

Email:  smoore@frederickcountymd.gov
Nancy Nunn, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
Address:
Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc. P.O. Box 169 124 Wye Narrows Drive
Queenstown, Maryland 21658

Email:  nnunn@umd.edu
Matthew Pennington, Downstream Strategies
Address:
410 Severn Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21403

Email:  mpennington@region9wv.com
Don Phillips, Town of Laurel (DE)
Address:
205 Turtle Cove
#110
Laurel, Delaware 19956

Email:  hdonpj47@gmail.com
Phone:  (443) 359-1009
Pam Shellenberger, York County (VA)
Address:
410 Severn Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21403

Email:  pshellenberger@ycpc.org
Mitchell Smiley, Virginia Municipal League
Address:


Email:  msmiley@vml.org
Kathy Stecker, Maryland Department of the Environment
Address:
1800 Washington Boulevard
Baltimore, Maryland 21230

Email:  kathy.stecker@maryland.gov
Jim Sullivan, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control
Address:
100 W. Water Street - Suite 6B
Dover, Delaware 19904

Email:  James.Sullivan@state.de.us
Janet Thigpen, Southern Tier Central Regional Planning and Development Board (NY)
Address:


Email:  jthigpen@chemungcountyny.gov
Lauren Townley, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation
Address:
625 Broadway
Albany, New York 12233

Email:  lauren.townley@dec.ny.gov
Phone:  (518) 402-8283
Julia Wakeling, District of Columbia Department of Energy & Environment (DOEE)
Address:
1200 First St NE
Washington D.C., District of Columbia 20002

Email:  julia.wakeling@dc.gov
Wendy Walsh, Upper Susquehanna Coalition
Address:
851 Chemung St
Horseheads, New York 14845

Email:  walshw@co.tioga.ny.us
Justin Williams, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Address:
P.O. Box 1105
Richmond, Virginia 23218

Email:  justin.williams@deq.virginia.gov
David Wood, Chesapeake Stormwater Network
Address:
8030 Main St.
Ellicott City, Maryland 21043

Email:  wood.csn@outlook.com
Tree Layton Zuzzio, Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development
Address:


Email:  tzuzzio@pa.gov
Maura Christian, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality
Josephine Saikali, West Virginia Region 9 Planning and Development Council
Address:


Email:  jsaikali@region9wv.com
Bailey Rocco, Pennsylvania Municipal League/Sustainable PA (PML)
Address:


Email:  brocco@pml.org
Caitlin Bolton, Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
Address:


Email:  cbolton@mwcog.org
Kevin Spence, Delaware League of Local Governments
Address:


Email:  executivedirector@dllg.us
Andy Fellows, University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth
Address:
410 Severn Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 20736

Email:  afellows@umd.edu
Michelle Edwards, Rappahannock-Rapidan Regional Commission
Address:
420 Southridge Pkwy
#106
Culpeper, Virginia 22701

Email:  medwards@rrregion.org