Formed in 1998, the Inland Bays Tributary Action Team was the first in Delaware, so the process of developing pollution controls has been a learning experience --- one that has helped guide later Tributary Action Teams.

Our team was formed by the Center for the Inland Bays, which wanted the public to help create a plan for reducing nutrient pollution to the Inland Bays. In 1999, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control joined the effort and the team's mission evolved into the task of recommending a Pollution Control Strategy for achieving nutrient reductions called for by the newly established TMDLs.

At first our team split into three teams, one each for Assawoman Bay, Indian River Bay and Rehoboth Bay. In 2000, the three teams merged into one Inland Bays team. Team membership is wide-ranging, as it includes mayors, business owners, environmentalists, farmers, retirees and other citizens.

We overcame a number of long-standing challenges as it developed its Pollution Control Strategy: a long history of ineffective cleanup efforts, conflicts between the interests of the tourism and agricultural industries, and skepticism about the process itself. Representing numerous interests, team members have dedicated themselves to authoring an effective Pollution Control Strategy that will benefit all residents of the watershed.

With assistance from the Center for the Inland Bays and the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension Service and Marine Advisory Service, we've developed an in-depth issue book, thousands of which were distributed throughout the community in order to promote attendance at public forums. The forums received significant media attention as citizens and team members worked through the many complex issues that make up the water-pollution problem.

Please visit the Tributary Action Strategy section of the Center for the Inland Bays web site for more information.