Welcome to the
Western Lake Erie Basin
Partnership
A Brief Overview of the WLEB Partnership
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) invited 14 Federal, State, and regional partners to attend the first meeting of a Leadership Group designed to create a comprehensive watershed management partnership and framework for the Western Lake Erie Basin (WLEB) Study on November 7, 2005 in Defiance, Ohio. This is an appropriate location as Defiance is the geographic center of the WLEB watershed.
The WLEB Charter was agreed to on March 29, 2006, and the signatories agreed to develop a consensus-based Partnership to pursue the following principles:
The Partnership is committed to collaboration and consensus building - sharing resources and knowledge to link land use to water quality, support ongoing efforts and identify new opportunities to enhance and improve the watershed.
The Partnership will apply watershed-based solutions to local problems and apply local solutions to watershed problems -inclusively empowering and building the capacity of local watershed groups and supporting ongoing efforts.
The Partnership is results oriented - it will define the baseline status of the basin, identify and prioritize science based solutions, responsibly support the implementation of innovative and cooperative projects, monitor and evaluate its actions and support an adaptive management approach.
The Partnership will speak with one voice, promote transparency, encourage participation, be responsive, create awareness, educate and inform.
The Partnership will provide the structure necessary to coordinate public and private resources across political boundaries to accelerate achievement of environmental goals and support for local conservation initiatives.
The Leadership Committee for the WLEB Partnership is comprised of senior members of their respective organizations. This group oversees the efforts of an Operational Committee and Coordination Teams in four areas: Project Coordination Team, Outreach/Public Education Coordination Team, Resource Coordination Team, and Research & Data Coordination Team.