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l governments and environmental groups . You bring a collective perspective to the job that no federal agency could hope to bring . They say that many hands make for light work . When it comes to watersheds , many eyes make for clear vision . And you have demonstrated your clear vision many times . The grass roots watershed movement that has sprung up across the country, the grass roots movement that is so clearly present in this room today, is making great things happen . And you ' re making more things happen more effectively than the federal government ever could, no matter how big our budget . Over the past decade you ' re changed the face of our national watershed protection and restoration efforts . According to EPA ' s Adopt a Watershed data base , there are now more than three thousand local groups working to protect their communities ' streams , rivers , and lakes . These productive partnerships include local governments, local businesses , and local environmental groups united to protect watershed health . These grassroots watershed partnerships are democracy in action . They' re the lifeblood of our democratic system . That ' s why I think it ' s no exaggeration to say that your grassroots partnerships not only improve the health of watersheds , they strengthen democracy itself. As you know, both President Bush and Governor Whitman came to their current jobs from state government . They both believe that the federal government does best when it encourages and supports those closest to environmental problems to have a big hand in designing solutions . They both want to see more authority shifted to state and local governments , and they both want to see much- expanded partnerships among government, business , and environmental community groups . They both want to see the work of grassroots watershed partnerships expand . This is not to say we ' re abdicating the federal role . Far from it . We ' re going to do everything we can to make your job easier. We ' re absolutely committed to tough federal enforcement, for example . We ' re developing nutrient criteria that can be applied in every watershed . We ' re working with USDA, states , leading academic experts , and other stakeholders to develop better ways to protect watersheds from animal wastes . We ' ve joined with state and local governments to control pathogen and nutrient pollution from septic systems and other onsite sewage management . And we ' re working across the board with all stakeholders to assure effective implementation of the Clean Water Act ' s TMDLs , which provide the technical underpinning for our mutual efforts to protect watersheds . And in all our watershed protection activities at EPA we ' re going to take advantage of the growing environmental expertise found at the state and local levels . We intend to give you more flexibility to pursue our shared environmental goals in the ways that you think are best . There ' s