Join us to ensure that every community in Anne Arundel County is actively engaged to create a healthy environment.

Dear Friend of WSA,

Thank you for exploring the Watershed Movement. Whether you have 5 minutes or 5 hours, your actions make a huge difference.

I wanted to take a moment to introduce you more completely to the Watershed Movement and the theory of change behind it. I truly believe we are on the cusp of something transformational and I am so glad that you have joined us.

All great environmental victories throughout history have one thing in common: they were never the work of a single person, a single organization, or a single community. Instead, every victory was the result of people coming together — sharing a vision, combining their strengths, and refusing to quit. The restoration of Anne Arundel County’s watersheds is no different.

Over the past 40 years, Bay restoration efforts have invested billions of dollars in data, engineering and policies. And yet, still today, when it rains, our kids and dogs can’t swim in the rivers. Still today, many of our largest canopy trees are covered in English ivy. Still today, more than 67% of our neighbors, friends and colleagues right here in Anne Arundel County are disconnected from the environmental movement. And, unless our friends, colleagues and neighbors are connected to this work, our progress will continue to be slow and incomplete…because its not data, engineering or policies that win environmental victories - it is people.

This spring, WSA launched the Watershed Movement to strategically and purposefully connect every community across Anne Arundel county to each other, to their watersheds, and to a shared vision of what's possible.

Now that you are part of the Watershed Movement, here are three things you can do to grow the movement.

• Learn about small actions to reduce pollution in your home and community. All of our small actions, when added together, represent the largest single opportunity to reduce Bay pollution.

• Share what you learn with someone else! People often take actions because of the personal communication with those they know, trust, and respect. You are that trusted voice. WSA will curate and time those resources so that your sharing is most effective, but we need your voice. It’s more powerful and more effective than a million dollar ad campaign, so use it!

• Grow: When you attend any environmental event this spring (a tree planting, a trash pick up, an electric car show, a lecture), invite someone who would not normally attend. Your personal invitation matters, and this is how we grow the movement.

On behalf of our staff and Board of Directors, I want to thank you again for joining the Watershed Movement. We’ll have periodic updates for those who have joined, so be on the look out for a virtual or in person session in the coming months. In the meantime, please do not hesitate to contact me directly with any questions!

Cheers to Clean Water,