Funding provides support for water quality improvements, habitat restoration and community stewardship efforts
MARYLAND – The Chesapeake Bay Program is pleased to amplify the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s announcement of more than $16.7 million in grant awards to support water quality improvements, habitat restoration and community stewardship efforts in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
The 38 grants announced today will generate more than $10.5 million in matching contributions for a total conservation impact of over $27.2 million.
The grants were awarded through the Chesapeake Bay Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants and Small Watershed Grants (SWG) programs, which are administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. The grant programs are key funding mechanisms of the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership that aim to advance measurable progress toward partner commitments under the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement. These programs help local governments, conservation districts, tribes, nonprofits and community partners implement conservation practices and nature-based solutions—reducing nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment while enhancing habitat.
“Both of these grant programs are part of the larger story of EPA’s investments for the Chesapeake Bay,” said Amy Van Blarcom-Lackey, EPA Region 3 Administrator. “We’re making targeted investments in agricultural conservation practices, wetland and floodplain restoration, riparian buffers and living shorelines. These investments will deliver cleaner water and healthier habitats, while fostering economic growth across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.”
Some of this year’s grant recipients in Maryland include:
- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay ($1,000,000): Through enhanced adoption of conservation practices on dairy farms, this project will support farmers and landowners by installing riparian forest buffers and implementing best management practices that improve water quality and biodiversity while promoting resilience.
- Baltimore Green Space ($356,699): Forest efforts in Baltimore will be improved through coordinated forest management efforts, community outreach, and educational workshops, training and application of cutting-edge forest monitoring techniques.
- Catoctin Land Trust ($595,269): Along Antietam Creek, 30 acres of riparian buffers and 10 acres of upland trees will be planted, and 500 acres of habitat will be conserved to advance strategic habitat restoration and conservation priorities of the Heart of Maryland Collaborative.
- Maryland Institute College of Art ($150,000): Three underutilized properties on MICA’s campus will be transformed into a public green space that will manage stormwater runoff along Falls Road. The project will engage community stakeholders in a collective co-design process alongside engineers and landscape designers to develop comprehensive plans for transforming an urban alleyway, a vacant parcel and a demolished building site into vibrant and functional nature-based stormwater infrastructure.
- National Audubon Society ($610,585): Tidal wetland restoration will be implemented to repair the hydrology of waterlogged and ponded marsh at Irish Grove Sanctuary in Somerset County, Maryland. This project will restore 73 acres of salt marsh to improve habitat conditions for breeding saltmarsh sparrows and reduce flood and erosion risk for local transportation infrastructure.
- Nature Forward ($311,242): Hands-on watershed education, ongoing habitat monitoring efforts and the design and installation of nature-based stormwater management practices will improve, protect and conserve water quality and habitats around the Northwest and Northeast Branches of the Anacostia River.
- St. Mary’s Watershed Association ($150,000): This project will incorporate community feedback in designing one-to-two acres of three-dimensional oyster reefs in the upper St. Mary’s River and submit all required permit applications. Additionally, it will conduct pre-restoration surveys and prepare technical plans for building and deploying 250 reef balls while involving 300 community members to enhance oyster habitat and improve water quality.
About the Grant Programs
Small Watershed Grants (SWG) support community-led restoration and conservation projects that deliver measurable improvements in water quality, habitat, and local benefits.
Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) Grants help partners scale proven and emerging approaches to reduce nutrient and sediment pollution at watershed and regional scales.
Collectively, these awards will:
- Restore 75 miles of riparian forest buffers and implement 45 miles of livestock exclusion fencing;
- Restore 290 acres of wetland and marsh habitat;
- Implement a total of 120,000 acres of agricultural best management practices to improve water quality, soil health, and farm profitability, including 83,000 acres of agricultural nutrient management, 12,000 acres of cover crops, 12,000 acres of manure injection, 5,500 acres of improved tillage management, and 7,500 acres of other conservation practices;
- Treat stormwater runoff from more than 350 acres of developed land;
- Support more than 700 watershed restoration and conservation jobs; and
- Reduce annual nitrogen pollution by 1 million pounds, annual phosphorus pollution by 67,000 pounds, and annual sediment pollution by more than 78 million pounds.
For a complete list of funded projects, please visit the SWG and INSR pages. Additionally, the Chesapeake Bay Program and its partners offer multiple competitive and non-competitive grant opportunities to help fund restoration projects of all sizes across the Chesapeake watershed.
About the Chesapeake Bay Program
Founded after the first signing of the Chesapeake Bay Agreement in 1983, the Chesapeake Bay Program is a multi-state/federal partnership focused on restoring the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.
The program is authorized under section 117 of the Federal Clean Water Act and is governed by the Chesapeake Executive Council consisting of the governors of the six states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed; the mayor of the District of Columbia; the Chair of the Chesapeake Bay Commission; and the EPA Administrator.
Program priorities are outlined in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement which consists of four goals and 21 outcomes focused on various aspects of restoration.