Mission of Program: "To facilitate the development of a coordinated multi-program, multimedia, and multi-party environmental protection and management strategy in the Woonasquatucket River watershed." --DEM Woonasquatucket River Pilot Watershed DRAFT Work Plan for 2000 & 2001

Entities in the Rhode Island Watersheds Partnership include:

Watershed Coordinator: Individual in charge of coordinating all DEM projects in the watershed and acting as liaison with local, federal, and other agency stakeholders.

Coordinating Council: Consists of representatives from agencies and organizations that contribute resources (funding and technical assistance) to the implementation of the Watershed Partnership.

Partners in Resource Protection: It is comprised of stakeholders from state and federal agencies, nonprofit, municipalities and universities. PRP provides technical assistance to the watershed teams.

Watershed Teams: A partnership of community and environmental organizations, and local, state and federal agencies that identify and prioritize the needs of the watershed and carry out projects to address those needs. The Watershed Council is one example of a watershed team although not all are necessarily as established and may exist merely in "ad hoc" status.

Currently, there are only 3 full-time employees of DEM working exclusively on the watershed approach. See Watershed Approach-- Rhode Island Government for more information.