Local Leadership Workgroup
Upcoming Meetings
No 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 on the status of this outcome, please visit the ChesapeakeProgress Local Leadership 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
Protect Local Waterways 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.
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.
- November 2024: Impact of Recent Supreme Court Cases
- 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: Behavior 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.
View detailsStrategic 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.
View detailsMembers
Martha Narvaez (Chair), University of Delaware
Les Knapp (Vice Chair), Maryland Department of the Environment
Rick Mittler (Coordinator), Local Leadership Workgroup Coordinator, Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay
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
Angelica Bailey Thupari
Dominic Butchko, Maryland Association of Counties
Pat Calvert, Virginia Conservation Network
Nicole Christ, Maryland Department of the Environment
Jen Cotting, Environmental Finance Center - UMD
Carrie Decker, Maryland Department of Natural Resources
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
Liz Feinberg, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Kate Fritz, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission
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)
Mark Hoffman, Chesapeake Bay Commission
60 West Street
Suite 406
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
Email: mhoffman@chesbay.us
Phone: (410) 263-3420
James Hutzler, Virginia Association of Counties (VA)
Les Knapp, Maryland Department of the Environment
Megan Lehman, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Shannon Moore, Frederick County (MD)
Nancy Nunn, Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology
Harry R. Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology, Inc. P.O. Box 169 124 Wye Narrows Drive
Queenstown, Maryland 21658
Email: nnunn@umd.edu