NATIONAL
ESTUARY
PROGRAM
EFFECTIVE • EFFICIENT • COLLABORATIVE • ADAPTABLE
THE NEP IS COLLABORATIVE
Bringing people together to achieve a
common goal helps NEPs generate long-
term support for efforts to protect and re-
store the nation's estuaries. Key to their
success is a governance structure that
fully involves the public in the decision-
making process, and encourages strong
partnerships and collaborative working re-
lationships.
For every NEP, the program generates a
blueprint for success that relies on a con-
sensus-building process which balances
the needs and interests of every stake-
holder to achieve common goals.
Here's a look at some of the most suc-
cessful efforts NEPs have made in the last
decade to address common environmen-
tal challenges facing U.S. coastal water-
sheds.
STORMWATER PHASE
When the Federal Clean Water Act's Phase II stormwater
regulations required small-and medium-sized communities
to implement a stormwater management program,
28 municipalities in Maine were called on to act, including
half of the towns in the Casco Bay watershed. Though
the watershed comprises just a small portion of Maine,
encompassing three percent of the State's land mass,
Casco Bay's watershed hosts more than 25 percent of its
population, including the city of Portland.
The pressure was on the Casco Bay region to address
stormwater runoff from rapid suburban development and
the subsequent construction of roads, parking lots, and
rooftops. The increased runoff had stressed Casco Bay's
water quality, aquatic habitat, and biological diversity.
Federal regulations required that every Phase II municipal-
ity develop a stormwater management plan, but the time
and resources required to undertake the effort left most
feeling overwhelmed.
NEP IN ACTION
In 2002, the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership (CBEP)
helped to bring the 14 municipalities in the Casco Bay
watershed to the table by collaboratively initiating a re-
gional approach to stormwater pollution management.
This was a novel idea for a State composed of hundreds
of local governments with a history of tackling problems
independently. But the desire for local control was
EFFECTIVE • EFFICIENT • COLLABORATIVE • ADAPTABLE
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quickly replaced with a growing awareness
that stormwater pollution has no boundar-
ies and a regional approach might be the
best solution.
CBEP invested significant funding and staff
support toward this cooperative effort,
known formally as the Interlocal Stormwa-
ter Working Group (ISWG), by helping par-
ticipating municipalities develop a five-year
plan to address stormwater regulations at
a regional level. Formation of the ISWG
saved individual municipalities substantial
time and money by providing access to a
cross-section of experts, pooling financial
resources, sharing products, and estab-
lishing a key relationship with the Maine
Department of Environmental Protection.
The ISWG member communities received
invaluable assistance working through
regulations and outreach, a required
area in which many of the municipalities
lacked experience. CBEP helped fund an
outreach coordinator and helped lever-
age funding from the 28 Small Municipal
Separate Storm Sewer Systems (MS4s)
Statewide to launch the State's "Think Blue
Maine: Clean Water Begins with You" me-
dia campaign—a successful water quality
outreach effort that originated on the West
Coast and is now being adopted across
the East Coast.
The ISWG also developed a standard
operating procedures manual with funding
and staff support from CBEP, which is cur-
rently being used to train hundreds of local
Department of Public Works employees
and other municipal staff while serving as a
regional and national model. CBEP pro-
vided funding for several half-and full-day
classes to train employees from each of
the 14 municipalities on stormwater pre-
vention measures. Formation of the ISWG
also led to joint mapping of stormwater
infrastructure and illicit discharge detection and elimination
inspection procedures, while enlisting the help of Ameri-
corps volunteers to save on operational costs.
CBEP has also funded a series of demonstration projects
within ISWG communities to showcase low-impact devel-
opment (LID) strategies for mitigating stormwater, includ-
ing the installation of a "green" roof atop Portland's East
End School and a porous pavement parking lot at the new
Freeport Community Center. These projects are appear-
ing in newspaper headlines and attracting the attention
of developers seeking to implement LID design into State
buildings.
With implementation of their regional, five-year plan well
under way, the ISWG has been lauded by Maine's Gover-
nor and is now viewed as a model for municipal collabora-
tion across New England.
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OPEN SPACE PRESERVATION
When the privately-owned Babcock Ranch, a critical
landscape connection between Charlotte Harbor and
Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades, became vulnerable
to commercial development in 2004, the community's
concern increased. The 91,361 -acre property provides
essential wildlife habitat, houses one of the area's largest
natural water storage tracts and includes one of south-
west Florida's few water bodies listed without impair-
ment. Naturally, concerns were voiced about the need to
preserve the integrity of this important stretch of coastal
land—so the Charlotte Harbor National Estuary Program
(CHNEP) stepped in to facilitate a solution.
NEP IN ACTION
The CHNEP presented $5,000 in seed money and a staff
member to establish the Babcock Preservation Partner-
ship, a grassroots initiative that raised funds and orga-
nized a coalition of stakeholders that could influence the
acquisition and management of the property. The effort
was a remarkable success that eventually led the State
and Lee County to purchase and preserve 80 percent of
the Ranch with ambitious efforts still in progress to ensure
the remaining acreage remains intact.
To make it happen, a core group of stakeholders—includ-
ing local hunting, sporting and environmental groups, real-
tors, the water management district, private businesses,
educators, citizens, and students—stepped in to donate
time and resources to the effort. Chico's, the women's
clothing retailer headquartered in Florida, got on board
with a donation that enabled the group to hire a another
staff member to run the partnership and launched an
advertising campaign that used the Ranch as its model-
shoot location.
The newspaper in Lee County underwrote the design and
production of 5,000 educational pamphlets for use dur-
ing outreach events and direct mailings. Reporters, edi-
tors and an editorial cartoonist also worked to keep the
story alive. A local resident also contacted family friend
Jim Fowler, the well-known naturalist and TV host, who
donated his time as spokesman for the effort. Lee County
offered its helicopter and pilot to capture Fowler
on video flying over the Ranch and explaining the
importance of preserving the property. The
messages aired regularly on local cable and
radio stations—free of charge.
In addition, Lee County and local restaurant, the
Blue Pepper, underwrote the costs of two bus
loads of activists to travel to the State
capital to testify at the State's conservation lands
committee hearing in support of purchasing the
Ranch. Elected State officials were called, sent
letters, e-mailed, and visited to demonstrate the
broad-based support for legislation to authorize
the expenditure of State dollars to purchase the
Ranch.
With over a quarter-million of local
fundraising dollars and the support of the
Governor and other elected officials in
securing State and Federal funding, 73,000
acres were purchased by the State of Florida
and Lee County in 2006. This acquisition per-
manently protects water quality and quantity,
provides habitat and preserves open space for
generations to come, and demonstrates the
strength of the NEP approach to facilitating
cooperation among diverse stakeholders in order
to protect and preserve the watershed.
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•A collaboration
that enabled the
MCBP to create a
viable plan that
would replace years-old
planning and zoning
laws with ones
that mandate
low impact
development
elements into any
future building projects,"
SMART GROWTH
The rapid development that has taken place in Ocean
City, Maryland, over the last several decades has made
Worcester County one of the State's most densely-
populated coastal regions. With more people expected
and demands for development on the horizon, the County
was faced with two major issues: how should the county
prepare for growth, and where should that growth occur?
NEP IN ACTION
Beginning in 2004, using EPA grant funding, the Maryland
Coastal Bays Program (MCBP) brought scores of build-
ers, county planners, architects, engineers and other
stakeholders to the table, a collaboration that enabled the
MCBP to create a viable plan that would replace years-
old planning and zoning laws with ones that mandate low
impact development (LID) elements into any future build-
ing projects.
Officially adopted by the Worcester County Commission-
ers in March 2006, the County's new Comprehensive
Plan for smart growth will introduce greener development
processes across 3,300 acres over the next 20 years—it
will also help preserve 20,000 acres by pushing growth
away from the forests, wetlands, and flood-prone areas
and into and around existing infrastructure absent of haz-
ardous and sensitive areas.
During the initial planning stages, all municipalities within
Worcester County played an integral role in developing
the new design with concerted efforts to stay focused on
what would be best for the County as a whole in order
to meet smart growth objectives. Numerous speakers
groups, public meetings and workshops kept everyone
on the same page and MCBP also developed a course to
teach real estate professionals about the environmental
impacts of various types of development.
In the field, individual analyses of each of the eight water-
sheds in the County were conducted to help determine
how growth should be directed away from sensitive areas
and toward marginal agricultural land adjacent to existing
towns. Nutrient reduction efforts and Total Maximum Daily
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Load implementation were also incorporated
into the plan and information was shared with
State officials during presentations—an effort
that has expanded and enabled MCBP to work
with neighboring counties in Delaware and Vir-
ginia to examine their watershed planning.
Soon, Worcester's outmoded zoning ordinanc-
es — now attached to eState-zoned proper-
ties and found inconsistent with the Plan's eye
toward greener development—will return to
agriculturally-zoned land, allowing just enough
growth (2,700 acres per parcel) to accom-
modate the estimated 18,000 people who are
expected to move into the County over the
next decade.
To help residents understand the importance of
changing zoning laws and the benefit they have
toward preserving the region's character and
environmental integrity, the MCBP launched a
$20,000 public education campaign.
Divisiveness in communities is often the unfor-
tunate result of discussions about growth and
development. Maryland Coastal Bays, howev-
er, successfully brought opposing views to the
table through the NEP governance plan in order
to protect the bays and waters where fresh-
water meets the sea in coastal Maryland. The
product of this collaborative effort, the Worces-
ter County Comprehensive Plan, is now being
hailed as an important model for watersheds
across the country.
POLLUTION REDUCTION
As many as 32 bacteria-related, impaired water bodies
exist in the Houston-Galveston area, making it one of the
highest priority problems facing the Galveston Bay eco-
system. Non-point source pollution within the watershed
has infected hundreds of miles of bayous and streams
that flow to Galveston Bay. With 4 million people living
in the Galveston Bay area and another 3.5 million ex-
pected by 2035, dozens of waste-water treatment plants
(WWTPs)—many of them small and aging—are struggling
to optimally manage costs and meet performance stan-
dards.
With the help of many private, public and community
partners, the Galveston Bay Estuary Partnership (GBEP) is
responding to the issues by combining watershed-based
management and targeted source-reduction efforts to ad-
dress the pollution and other estuary threats.
NEP IN ACTION
The GBEP recently galvanized an effort to bring water-
shed managers together to determine the best way to
regionalize some of Galveston's WWTPs and address
some 1,000 permitted discharges. Many small WWTPs
were identified and included in GBEP's 10-year strategic
action plan, "Charting the Course to 2015." The GBEP
also identified 17,800 failing systems in an underserved
area by conducting a series of septic system surveys and
sponsoring a community risk assessment study on the
potential health impacts of failing septic systems. The
work moved county officials and the community toward
finding replacement options. In helping local governments
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implement large-scale water quality improvement
projects in targeted watershed areas, the GBEP
and Texas Commission on Environmental Qual-
ity have pooled Federal Clean Water Act Sec-
tion 320, 319 and 106 program funding, which
enabled municipalities to receive $4 million in
partnership grants.
Another notable success is a six-year 3.5 acre
stormwater demonstration project spearheaded
by the GBEP and partners in 2001. With plans
to widen the Brays Bayou at Mason Park already
under way by the Harris County Flood Control
District, the GBEP saw an opportunity. Aware
that the project would require the excavation of
large portions of earth in order for streamside
shelves to be installed, the GBEP approached
the county with the idea of creating wetland
areas that could provide a wet bottom detention
to catch floatable litter, fertilizers, pesticides,
and other pollutants.
It took little persuading for the county to agree
to the add-on and soon numerous local, State,
and Federal agencies and organizations, includ-
ing the US EPA, Harris County Flood Control
District, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department,
the City of Houston Parks and Recreation De-
partment, Texas Master Naturalists, NRG En-
ergy Inc., and students from local high schools,
came together to provide project funding, exper-
tise and volunteer labor.
Having laid the path for future collaborative
work, the award-winning project is already reap-
ing environmental benefits, including signs of
decreased bacteria levels in the water, and has
provided a new habitat for fish and wildlife. A
recreational trail with a kiosk and interpretive
signs are educating the public about the func-
tion and benefits of the 3.2-acre project. And
the best part of all? The flood control district is
now taking what it has learned and is applying it
to other Harris County watersheds.
ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP
The Lower Columbia River Estuary Partnership (LCREP)
has found that the key to educating people about the
importance of protecting and restoring the watershed is
to personally involve them in the effort, which is reflected
in most of LCREP's water quality outreach and education
projects—especially in the classroom.
The work of the LCREP centers on protecting and restor-
ing the lower 146 miles of the Columbia River—but they
don't do it alone. Having already established itself as a
credible organization with a cadre of experts and sup-
porters to draw from, the Estuary Partnership is able to
rely on these numerous public and private entities to help
build stewardship initiatives that succeed.
NEP IN ACTION
With a team of educators, the LCREP has developed 50
classroom curricula and reached 81,000 students from all
grade levels. Working closely with teachers to tailor and
deliver classroom lessons, field trips and service learn-
ing projects, the work is constantly evolving as it spreads
across the region, catching the attention of educators—
mostly through word of mouth.
In 2006, the LCREP introduced the Schoolyard Stormwa-
ter Project, a new initiative that gives Portland students
from elementary, middle and high schools motivating,
hands-on education about sustainable stormwater man-
agement, and to help implement stormwater infiltration
projects right on the school property—projects that have
the added benefit of reducing the schools' stormwater
fees.
Funded in part by the EPA, the LCREP received additional
funding for the projects from the Spirit Mountain Com-
munity Fund, the philanthropic arm of the Confederated
Tribes of Grand Ronde, which supports a variety of envi-
ronmental protection and education projects. The LCREP
also enlisted the help of three landscape and architectural
designers who created the plans free of charge. Artistic,
educational elements were weaved into the designs to
appeal to young minds and outdoor classroom space was
integrated for added learning opportunities. A series of
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classroom discussions and lessons, focused
on stormwater, watershed health, and water
quality, also prepared students for field trips
that allowed them to view innovative storm-
water approaches outside the school yard.
The LCREP collaborated with local busi-
nesses, including a local health food store,
which have integrated sustainable stormwa-
ter infiltration elements on the premises and
are willing to host the students for an hour of
learning and exploration.
Later in the year, the LCREP collaborated
with the outreach and education staff at
Lewis and Clark National Historic Park in As-
toria, Oregon, to offer an affordable summer
camp experience to 35 students in grades
three to six. The joint venture has set the
stage for future camp programs that provide
unique and memorable summers infused with
educational elements that aim to positively
influence young minds as they make choices
that impact the environment.
The LCREP is also an inspiration to adults.
A recent initiative engaged river paddling
enthusiasts in a clean up project to clear an
island site of thousands of pounds of river-
polluting debris—an effort made possible
with the help of local and State agencies.
Members from a neighboring yacht club were
also approached by an Estuary Partnership
board member who succeeded in getting
two yacht club members to donate a boat
and barge to carry away the 4,100 pounds
of car batteries, propane tanks, gas cans,
abandoned boat parts, bicycles and other
trash left behind by squatters on the Hump
Island shoreline. Volunteers have also mowed
grass, removed trash and assisted in various
repairs at another site along Reed Island's
water trail campsite.
With public and private partners, the LCREP
is well on the way to building stewardship
programs that will last a lifetime.
BUILDING TRUST AND
EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIPS
The US EPA National Estuary Program (NEP), a unique and
voluntary community-based program established in 1987
under the Clean Water Act (CWA) Amendments, works to
restore and maintain the water quality and ecological integ-
rity of estuaries of national significance.
To achieve long-term protection of water quality and living
resources—goals of CWA, collaboration and inclusive de-
cision-making are essential. The NEP uses a collaborative
decision-making process where solutions developed reflect
all stakeholders' input and fully respect local priorities. This
collaboration builds strong trust and effective partnerships.
In turn, this fosters a high likelihood of success.
There are 28 NEPs, located in 18 U.S. coastal States and
Puerto Rico, which are designated estuaries of national
significance for their distinct economic, ecological, recre-
ational, and aesthetic values.
For more information contact:
US EPA
Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds (OWOW)
Coastal Management Branch
Mail Code 4504T
1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20460
Tel: 202.566.1260
Fax: 202.566.1336
www.epa.gov/owow/estuaries
The NEP: Applying the Clean Water Act in
ways that are Effective, Efficient, Adaptable,
and Collaborative.
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