Modeled on similar successful efforts in the Great Lakes and Everglades, the Choose Clean Water Coalition was initiated in late 2008. Through a series of exploratory meetings, Chesapeake region non-profit organizations and Chesapeake Bay funders determined that there would be significant value in a more collaborative and coordinated campaign to advance the common issues most critical to achieving measurable progress on Bay and sub-watershed restoration.

In May 2009, the Choose Clean Water Coalition was formally launched, to seek federal leadership to improve water quality in the hundreds of streams and rivers that flow into the Chesapeake Bay. The coalition and the members of its non-profit organizations will work with both the federal government and local communities of the 53 members of Congress that represent the waters of the region.