When the availability of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources' Local Implementation Grants Program (DNR LIG) was announced in 2008, several entities operating in the Chester River watershed expressed an interest in the opportunity to utilize the funding for collaborative projects that would restore and protect the watershed. Stakeholders organized to form the Middle Chester Partnership and agreed upon a collection of nutrient reducing agricultural, septic, and restoration projects. The Environmental Finance Center's goal in the Middle Chester Partnership was to help partners in better detailing the tasks, anticipated outcomes, and costs associated with collection of proposed LIG projects to develop a more formal implementation and financing strategy.