This project will use compelling, personal stories from diverse and often underrepresented communities around eight chesapeake BAY tributary streams in the washington DC region to engage new audiences…

This project will use compelling, personal stories from diverse and often underrepresented communities around eight chesapeake BAY tributary streams in the washington DC region to engage new audiences of residents, watershed organizations and policy makers and inspire them to take action to protect these important waterways. Stories will be collected from individuals of all ages and backgrounds who live, work, gather and play in these watershed communities, capturing their personal experiences with and relationships to the streams. These stories will be presented in multiple traditional and on-line media, and at conferences and events, alongside relevant stream health data from each stream to highlight the interconnectedness between human activities and neighborhoods and the natural environments in which we all live. The project will culminate in the state of the streams 2026 report, which will present a comprehensive picture of these important chesapeake BAY tributaries and their impact on nearby residents. The report will integrate watershed residents stories with stream health data and include a toolkit of resources and actions that residents, watershed organizations, policy makers and the public can take to protect and preserve tributary streams. To minimize barriers to participating in the project, we will offer interviews in spanish, our regions second-most-spoken language, and translate materials into spanish. The report will be shared widely through a comprehensive communications strategy, to reach broad, diverse and multi-generational audiences in the DC metro region and beyond. The eight streams that are the focus of this project traverse a range of urban, suburban and rural areas that vary widely in income, race ethnicity, country of origin and languages spoken. They include streams in maryland (northwest branch of the anacostia river, oxon run, rock creek, seneca creek, sligo creek, little falls branch), virginia (holmes run, accotink creek) and washington DC (rock creek, oxon run). Goals 1.engage traditionally underrepresented audiences 2.tell the full stories of diverse residents in the chesapeake BAY watershed 3.galvanize conservation, human health and access to nature messaging 4.strengthen the ladder of engagement objectives 1.capture watershed residents diverse and often untold stories about their streams 2.collect and analyze pertinent stream health data from each stream 3.develop a toolkit of actions that residents, policymakers and others can take 4.create the state of the steams 2026 report 5.broadly share the state of the streams 2026 report through a comprehensive communications strategy 6.build long-term partnerships with local watershed organizations for on-going outreach, education and advocacy on environmental and quality-of-life issues in the chesapeake BAY watershed 7.evaluate the projects successes and challenges and integrate lessons learned in future worksummary of project activities we will work in partnership with local watershed organizations to collect local residents stories, experiences and perspectives about their streams identify the most useful and relevant stream health data sets and indicators for each stream collect and analyze stream health data identify the greatest assets, challenges and threats for each stream develop a tool-kit of actions that residents, organizations and policy makers can take to improve the health of their streams and broadly disseminate the stories, data and messages through a comprehensive communications plan. Performance goals, who will benefit: this project will benefit underrepresented communities in the chesapeake BAY watershed through sharing stories of their history, culture and connection to the streams watershed organizations, policy makers and the broader public by humanizing environmental issues and presenting stream health data and a toolkit for actions to protect and preserve chesapeake tributary streams