The Puget Sound Partnership is a state agency serving as the backbone organization for Puget Sound recovery. The Partnership coordinates the efforts of citizens, governments, tribes, scientists, businesses and nonprofits to set priorities, implement a regional recovery plan, and ensure accountability for results. The Partnership also provides funding and support for the Education, Communication, and Outreach Network (ECO Net).

The Partnership is also a National Estuary Program, a designation established by Congress in 1987 to protect estuaries of national significance that are threatened by degradation caused by human activity. Puget Sound was given priority status in the 1987 amendments to the Clean Water Act and became one of the original programs of the NEP.

More locally, the Partnership also serves as a Regional Recovery Organization to coordinate Puget Sound partners around salmon recovery efforts and convenes a number of other state priority workgroups that impact Puget Sound recovery.