Maintain Healthy Watersheds Goal Implementation Team (GIT 4)

Meetings

About

The Healthy Watersheds Goal Implementation Team (HWGIT) works to maintain local watersheds at optimal health across a range of landscape contexts. The HWGIT intends to bring attention to the challenge of protecting streams and watersheds that are healthy today, as a programmatic complement to the "impaired waters" approach that focuses on restoring waters if they become degraded. Healthy watersheds sustain local social, economic and environmental benefits at optimal levels and contribute to the achievement of Chesapeake Bay Program goals for the tidal Chesapeake Bay and tributaries. The optimal levels at which such benefits are sustainable will depend upon the landscape context of the watershed.

The principle rationale for the Healthy Watersheds goal is that balanced strategies for natural resource restoration, protection, investment and management are necessary to achieve a sustainably restored Chesapeake Bay. Conserving natural resources is a more cost-effective strategy to achieve Chesapeake Bay water quality goals. In addition, maintaining healthy local watersheds is more meaningful to communities since the majority of citizens are more likely to be concerned about the health of their local streams than the Chesapeake Bay.

Strategies

The HWGIT has identified four strategies to ensure the long-term conservation of healthy watersheds: 

1. Tracking the health of watersheds and our effectiveness in protecting them.
2. Strengthening local commitment and capacity to protect healthy watersheds.
3. Improving protection of state-identified healthy watersheds under federal programs and federal agency decision-making.
4. Supporting state-based efforts to improve assessment and protection of healthy watersheds. 

An updated map of State-Identified Healthy Waters and Watersheds and progress toward the Maintain Healthy Watersheds goal can be viewed at ChesapeakeProgress.

Projects

Publications