Local Leadership

Recent Progress: Increase

In 2022, the Local Leadership Workgroup distributed a baseline survey to local leaders and analyzed the results, providing insight into local officials’ knowledge and capacity. The results showed that many officials have a solid understanding of watershed basics; however, many officials lack knowledge about water resource regulations, particularly at the federal level. Newly elected officials and officials from smaller communities indicated the greatest need for increased knowledge and capacity on issues related to water resources. The results of the survey formed the foundation for establishing two indicators for the Local Leadership Outcome: knowledge of federal water resources regulations and reported conservation actions. When the Local Leadership survey is conducted again, the results will be used to track progress towards these two newly established indicators.

Workgroup efforts engaged 1,300+ local officials directly (through peer-to-peer learning exchanges, roundtable discussions and conference panels) and 9,500+ indirectly (through newsletters, magazine articles and blogs). More than 900 local planners attended webinars and conference sessions, and engaging planners activated a network of people who can support local officials’ learning.

Outlook: On Course

The amount of engagement with local officials and planners suggests that efforts made by the Chesapeake Bay Partnership have been successful at increasing local officials’ knowledge and capacity on issues related to water resources. With the new indicators and baseline survey data established, future surveys will be able to track progress and demonstrate more concretely the impact of the workgroup’s efforts.

Learn About Factors Influencing Progress

To achieve this outcome, Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to:

• Developing, enhancing and expanding training and leadership programs for local officials;
• Increasing peer-to-peer knowledge transfer among local officials;
• Improving the transfer of knowledge to local officials; and
• Identifying and improving key knowledge and information sources for local officials.

Monitoring and assessing progress toward the outcome will occur through social network diagrams, surveying instruments and existing research that measures local knowledge bases.

As part of the Chesapeake Bay Program’s partnership-wide implementation of adaptive management, progress toward this outcome was reviewed and discussed by the Management Board in February of 2023. It will be reviewed and discussed by the Management Board again in February 2025.

Download Management Strategy (.pdf)

Chesapeake Bay Program partners have committed to taking a series of specific actions that will support the management approaches listed above.

Learn About Logic & Action Plan

The Enhancing Partnering, Leadership and Management Goal Implementation Team leads the effort to achieve this outcome. It works in partnership with the Fostering Stewardship Goal Implementation Team.

Participating partners include:

• University of Delaware (The State of Delaware)
• Frederick County (The State of Maryland)
• Prince George’s County (The State of Maryland)
• University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center (The State of Maryland)
• University of Maryland Harry Hughes Center for Agro-Ecology (The State of Maryland)
• University of Maryland National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education (The State of Maryland)
• Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development (The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania)
• The Commonwealth of Virginia
• The State of West Virginia
• The Chesapeake Bay Commission
• The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• The Local Government Advisory Committee
• Chesapeake Stormwater Network
• Essex County (Virginia) Board of Supervisors
• Maryland Association of Counties
• Maryland League of Conservation Voters
• Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments
• National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
• Pennsylvania Association of Township Supervisors
• Rappahannock-Rapidan (Virginia) Regional Commission
• Virginia Association of Counties
• Virginia Conservation Network
• Virginia Municipal League
• York County (Pennsylvania) Planning Commission