“Creating watershed stewardship teams has been a powerful outreach tool for our community. It has been exciting to observe the teams in action as they complete projects in their homes, yards, and neighborhoods. In addition, I was struck by the program’s ability to successfully attract Team Leaders. Team Leaders, in turn, indicated the program provided them multiple benefits including the leadership skills of coaching, group facilitation, project management and community organizing.”
– Elenor Hodges, Executive Director, Arlingtonians for a Clean Environment

“Our river conservation group has struggled for years to develop an effective way to engage and motivate citizens in non point pollution control activities. The Water Stewardship program is the first tool we have found that really works. The Program’s focus on neighbor-to-neighbor interaction, along with its highly structured approach makes it much more than just another book with good ideas. We believe this program holds great promise for helping communities achieve quantitative pollution reduction.”
– John Tippett, Executive Director, Friends of the Rappahannock

“Measuring the impact of outreach is a challenge, especially for local governments whose budgets are often limited. Empowerment Institute’s Water Stewardship Program has allowed us to track exactly what changes people made in their lifestyle, and estimate the pollution reduction that results from those changes. It’s definitely an exciting new tool for behavioral change.”
– Aileen Winquist, Environmental Planner, Arlington Country Department of Environmental Services

“My team of neighbors joined for a wide variety of reasons. One teammate decided to join because ‘the program was so well laid out and fun, why wouldn’t I want to join?’ Another teammate was very interested in the individual actions that he could take. A third teammate said she wanted to take water stewardship actions, and that the support network would help her follow through. Our team rated getting to know each other better very highly. We also felt a strong desire to help out with other issues, so we contacted the Department of Transportation about a water retention pond near us that was not working properly.”
– Stacey Churchill

“My neighbors responded very enthusiastically to the invitation to join a Water Stewardship Team and were ready to move into action immediately. Our team of 10 neighbors was very diverse, with renters and homeowners alike answering the call. Everyone on the team expressed an interest in installing rain barrels. Our team also enjoyed the community building aspect, and held a clean-up of the alley behind our row house one Saturday. All 16 households in the row house participated, staying all day to clear debris, plant grass and herbs, and build communal gardens in the courtyards that had previously silted with storm water runoff. With all the chaos in the world right now, it’s so nice that we can do something positive on our own.”
– Kate Watters

“We enjoyed getting to know each other better. We all had a strong appreciation for the individualized nature of the program, which encouraged us to choose the actions each of us wanted. We found the workbook easy to use and take the actions because they were laid out step-by-step. At one of our meetings, we invited the City arborist as a guest speaker to help us implement some of our actions. One household on the team was awarded a small grant to transform their yard to a more water-friendly environment. They uncovered a stream, removed grass and added native plants.”
– Laurie Huber

“Our team consisted of a condominium complex. We all really enjoyed the program and thought it was very worthwhile. We got to know each other while learning about things we could do right now to have a positive impact on our watershed. As the head of the Grounds Keeping Committee, I was able to instruct the grounds keeping crew to discontinue using pesticides and herbicides, start composting, and cut the grass higher.”
 – Sandy Tarpinian

“Our team consisted of 5 condo dwellers. They enthusiastically embraced the concept that there were things they could do individually and collectively to protect our watershed. We applied for a mini-grant to plant trees around our building. We also made a long-term plan to install a rain barrel and consult with our grounds crew on creating a rain garden.”
– Scott Knudsen