The Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance (MCWA) is coordinated by the Office of Sustainability and Environmental Resources (OSER) and is a mutual, collaborative, non-advocacy effort among individuals and organizations desiring to work together to improve the health of the Monocacy and Catoctin watersheds.  Growing out of more than two years of action planning for the Monocacy Watershed Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS), a Frederick-County-coordinated and State-assisted local planning process, participants decided to continue their affiliation and cooperation at its conclusion in order to help foster the WRAS plan implementation.

Mission Statement  

The Monocacy & Catoctin Watershed Alliance coordinates the efforts of a diverse group of stakeholders dedicated to the protection and restoration of the natural resources in the Monocacy & Catoctin Watersheds.

Vision Statement

We envision broadening and deepening stewardship ethic among and informed citizenry, which will help protect the County’s agricultural heritage and rural character, maintain and improve the quality of life, protect and treasure our natural resources, and manage future growth more wisely.  We envision healthy streams and rivers with forested buffers supplying clean drinking water and supporting healthy communities of aquatic and terrestrial life, as well as diverse and popular recreational uses.  We envision a healthy and vibrant agricultural community built on links with citizens who support local agricultural and renewable forest products. We envision increasingly concentrated residential development using conservation design principles with access to collective transportation modes and a web of well-maintained trails.  We envision watershed conservation folks from all sectors and communities collaborating to implement effective conservation and restoration practices and foster a creative stewardship consciousness.  

MCWA Quarterly Meetings

April 14, 2021 - The Monocacy and Catoctin Watershed Alliance held its quarterly meeting virtually on April 14, 2021.  OSER Project Manager and guest speaker Don Dorsey,  delivered a presentation about stream restoration techniques.  "A Riffle in Need: Understanding Why, How, and Where Stream Restoration may be occurring in Frederick County "  which included information about when stream restoration techniques may be needed, what type of instream restoration techniques may be best and why, and projects that the County is actively working on.   The meeting can be viewed on our Sustainable Frederick County Facebook page.