The Clean Water Action Plan: Building Watershed Partnerships at the Local, Regional and National Levels

In February 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy, Interior, Justice and Transportation and the Tennessee Valley Authority joined forces in issuing the Clean Water Action Plan. The Plan provides a blueprint for actions to protect public health and restore our nation's waterways by setting strong goals and providing states, communities, farmers, and landowners the tools and resources to meet them. It emphasizes collaborative strategies built around watersheds and the communities they sustain. This paper will provide an overview of work underway on several key actions:Promoting local partnerships through Watershed Assistance Grants (WAGs) and the Adopt Your Watershed Campaign;Promoting regional partnerships through Regional Watershed Roundtables; andPromoting a national dialogue at the National Watershed Forum and through the 2000 Watershed Restoration Progress Report.