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State agencies must maintain two-way communication with Ioca1 watershed organizations in order to make the most of local efforts. 3. Staff Resaurces When organizations' staffing levels are compared to a weighted ranking of organizations implementing water- quality efforts, we find the two are directly correlated. WMOs with the lowest staffing levels also have the low- est implementation rates. INE3IVIDUAL CAPACITY Research suggests that the capacities and motivations of individual watershed decision-makers play a significant role in the success of organized watershed efforts. 1. Concern farUVater Quality When asked to rank their level of concern for water quality, watershed decision-makers returned some strik- ing results. WMOs rank significantly lower than Water- shed Districts, JPBs and nonprofits. Nonprofit organiza- tions demonstrate the highest level of concern for water quality. It is also interesting to note that level of concern for water quality is correlated with the percentage of orga- nizational types implementing water-quality projects. 2. Level of Education The average level of education among watershed deci- sion-makers varies across the four types of organizations. However, all are above the state average. Our data shows that higher levels of education are not related to imple- mentation of water-quality activities. In fact, the organi- zations with the highest average Level of education - WMOs -have the Lowest percentage of organizations implementing water-quality projects and programs. In other words, higher education does not necessarily trans- late into taking positive action in the watershed. I~tPLE{Y(EI~Tf~ECs` VVATER- C2UALITY EFFORTS Using implementation of water-quality initiatives as a measure of watershed-organization effectiveness, organi- zations were ranked by their level of effort in implement- ing water-quality projects. Differences in project type (e.g., utilization of land-use Best Management Practices vs. capital improvement projects) were equally ranked. ,, ~,.~,w.~ .. , ~~ ~« ~- dPa~ 3t ~eY~ 0~ GGnCP.'i~ '1`t"V!i)s OI ,J`r~~s siBC 07 ~k.,. Car~n^ -ire are se. ~ , ;f,ts ten.: to exF>rv a _r.;~re- ins \l:l(;TPr :~U81I t`y trlan c,~'~'lg! Jon-prat argan~caticns are farmed cY pecpie whe are car.cerned abokrt wafer gr~a!ity and t"~ey surround themselves vJftn people ~n~ho share the same conceal. In additio;r, they are driven by a phifcsophy of activism rather than by state mandate" ~~ 9