ABOUT PWP

The Potomac Watershed Partnership (PWP) is a collaborative effort among federal, state, and local partners to restore the health of the land and waters of the Potomac River Basin, thereby enhancing the quality of life and overall health of the Chesapeake Bay. Why is PWP Important? Partners and Sponsors Goals Targeted Watersheds

Why is PWP Important?
The Potomac Watershed Partnership is not the only restoration effort in the Potomac, but it is one of the first large-scale collaborative efforts to focus on the region’s land use and water quality. The individual strengths, alliances, and resources of these federal, state, and private groups are coming together to work on common goals.

Nearly four centuries of intense land use have threatened the health of the Potomac River watershed. Many of the river’s tributaries have been altered and degraded. Acid mine drainage has polluted its headwaters, while farming has overloaded the waterway with sediments and nutrients. Rapidly expanding urban populations and urban sprawl have created a host of problems, from urban storm water runoff and altered streams to fragmentation of the forest and destruction of critical fish and wildlife habitat.

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Partners and Sponsors
PWP was formed in 2000 through a USDA Forest Service Initiative that funded 15 large-scale projects nationwide; each project focused on restoring their respective watersheds through partnerships. USDA Forest Service continues to be the primary sponsor of the Potomac Watershed Partnership.

Potomac Conservancy coordinates PWP, whose steering committee originally included five primary partners: USDA Forest Service (including George Washington/Jefferson National Forests), Maryland Department of Natural Resources - Forest Service, Virginia Department of Forestry, Ducks Unlimited, and Potomac Conservancy. Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection joined PWP as a steering committee member in 2002, and representatives from West Virginia Division of Forestry, Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service joined the PWP steering committee in 2007.

In addition to the steering committee, partners throughout the watershed leverage skills and resources to complete on-the-ground collaborative projects, and attend biannual PWP Information Exchanges.

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Goals
PWP partners work with private landowners, community organizations, businesses, and governments to undertake a variety of efforts to improve water quality; enhance forest, wetland, and aquatic habitats; restore threatened and endangered species; reduce erosion; and conserve open space. The following six goals guide PWP efforts:

• Increase and spread knowledge through assessment, monitoring, and education
• Accelerate riparian and wetland restoration
• Promote land protection and stewardship
• Enhance forest stewardship and reduce wildfire risk
• Create more livable communities
• Sustain and expand partnerships

Citizens benefit from these efforts through healthier streams and landscapes, improved flood and fire control, increased land values, education, and stewardship.

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Targeted Watersheds
In its first year, the partnership completed a strategic forest assessment for the Potomac watershed to determine where the highest priority forestlands were in most need of restoration, in both rural and urban areas. At the time of the assessment, the Shenandoah River and the Monocacy River and Antietam Creek subwatersheds had the lowest percentage of healthy riparian forests and wetlands; the highest levels of nutrient and sediment pollution; the most forest tracts destroyed by gypsy moths and wildfire; and some of the greatest development pressures in the Potomac basin. These subwatersheds are highest priority for the Partnership’s targeted restoration and protection efforts.

View interactive maps of the Shenandoah River watershed and the Monocacy River and Antietam Creek watersheds and more at PWP’s archived website.

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