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Hogan Administration Awards $22 Million for Chesapeake Bay Restoration Projects

18 Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund Grants Announced

Photo of Chesapeake Bay by Wendy Crowe

New Year’s Eve Sunrise by Wendy Crowe

The Hogan Administration has awarded funding to 18 recipients through the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund to improve the health of Maryland’s waterways. The “Trust Fund” allows Maryland to accelerate Chesapeake Bay restoration and improve water quality by focusing targeted financial investments and resources on the most efficient and cost-effective non-point source pollution control projects.

Trust Fund grants will provide funding to stream and wetland restoration, innovative stormwater management practices, riparian tree buffer plantings and more in multiple counties across the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

“The Trust Fund serves as an example for the nation of how state funding can be strategically targeted to have measurable impacts on water quality and the quality of life of residents and visitors who enjoy our treasured Chesapeake Bay,” Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said. “These 18 implementation-ready projects, totaling $22 million dollars of investments, will have a long-lasting, positive impact on the bay and our environment and build on our historic investment in Bay restoration efforts.”

Governor Larry Hogan has fully funded the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund for three consecutive years – the first governor to do so – and has provided an unprecedented $4 billion for Chesapeake Bay restoration since taking office, demonstrating his administration’s commitment to Bay enhancement and protection, support for environmental education and literacy, and green careers and jobs. Governor Hogan also serves as the current chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council of the Chesapeake Bay Program, which establishes the policy direction for the restoration and protection of Chesapeake Bay.

“The Trust Fund allows the department to collaborate with our sister agencies and local champions and partners in government and nonprofit organizations to achieve a common goal, cleaner and healthier water,” Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Mark Belton said. “Through these innovative and pioneering partnerships, Maryland is realizing lower costs for the removal of nutrients and sediments, benefiting both the environment and taxpayers.”

The full list of Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund projects funded for Fiscal Year 2019 can be found here:

Proposal Title Funding Recipient Abstract
Anne Arundel County Headwater Stream and Wetland Restorations Anne Arundel County Restore 3,700 linear feet of stream and 5.6 acres of wetland in Furnace Creek located in Glen Burnie. The restoration work will remove a concrete channel in the stream, headwaters and halt erosion of the severely degraded downstream reach.
Scotts Level Branch at Marriottsville Road Stream Restoration Baltimore County Department of Environmental Protection The proposed Scotts Level Branch at Marriottsville Road project is a 1,671 linear foot stream restoration project located in the headwaters of a high priority subshed of the Gwynns Falls watershed utilizing a hybrid approach of floodplain reconnection with elements of natural channel design to maximize pollution reduction.
Lower Gunpowder Falls and Loch Raven Reservoir Stream and Wetland Restorations Baltimore County Soil Conservation District Two stream and wetland restoration projects located within the Lower Gunpowder Falls and Loch Raven Reservoir watersheds. Will contribute to county Watershed Implementation Plans goals.
Baltimore Tree Project Baltimore Tree Trust Planting new street, park and private property trees, while removing impervious surfaces for new tree wells in the city and county.
Willow Pond Stormwater Management Facility Carroll County Bureau of Resource Management A pond will be deepened to provide additional habitat and decrease thermal impacts to the receiving stream, while reconnecting over 1,700 linear feet of stream channel in the floodplain. The project is unique in that the county will be studying an innovative method of reducing thermal impacts from wet facilities by incorporating a gravel lens discharge system.
Carroll County Stream and Wetland Restoration Projects Carroll Soil Conservation District Two stream and wetland restoration projects located within the Double Pipe Creek watershed that will contribute to county Watershed Implementation Plans goals.
Stormwater Retrofits for Cecil County Public Schools Project Cecil County Stormwater Management Division A combination of new stormwater management practices using Environmental Site Design and retrofits of existing facilities on four campuses.
Principio Creek Restoration – McMillan Property Cecil Land Trust Restore approximately 4,200 linear feet of degraded streams and 20 acres of riparian buffers in a priority pink watershed, Principio Creek, a significant tributary of the Lower Susquehanna River.
Frederick County Government Capital Improvement Projects Construction Frederick County Projects include a stormwater pond best management practices conversion which outfalls directly to Carroll Creek, a tributary within the Lower Monocacy watershed; a stormwater best management practices conversion which outfalls to the Lower Monocacy River; and, four small-scale best management practices on existing uncontrolled impervious surfaces within the Lower Monocacy watershed.
Harford County Watershed Restoration Harford County A stream restoration at Annie’s Playground.
Watershed Restoration Implementation Howard County Department of Public Works Two stream projects total approximately 8,500 linear feet that will significantly improve water quality, improve habitat and reduce pollutants entering county streams and ultimately the bay.
Cattail Creek Stream Restoration at Maple Dell Farm Howard County Approximately 6,000 linear foot natural channel stream restoration and buffer planting, which includes fencing cattle out of 15 acres of floodplain.
Clean Water Partnership Retrofit Project Low Impact Development Center, Inc. Convert one existing dry extended detention storage ponds located in medium priority area into a water quality management facility with permanent pools.
Healthy Forest Healthy Waters Maryland Forestry Foundation Implement forest management plans to achieve beneficial nutrient reductions through upland tree planting and riparian forest buffer projects on private rural and agricultural lands within the priority watersheds.
Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection Capital Stormwater Projects Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection A shallow marsh wetland and pond retrofit project to help to meet county municipal separate storm sewer systems permit and Total Maximum Daily Load requirements to improve water quality, and add stormwater management to uncontrolled impervious areas.
Implementing a long-term structured oyster aquaculture nutrient credit program Oyster Recovery Partnership Expanding the Maryland Oyster Management Public-Private Partnership project that is using shellfish aquaculture as an innovative structural best management practices to improve water quality.
Moores Branch Stream Restoration at the Park School of Baltimore Park School One stream restoration projects located within the Jones Falls watershed that will contribute to county Watershed Implementation Plans goals.
Innovative Agricultural Best Management Practices on Maryland’s Eastern Shore ShoreRivers, Inc. The projects consist of one stream/ditch restoration that will restore 660 linear feet of ditch and 720 linear feet of stream, a ditch restoration that will create a two-stage ditch with wetland benches and a wildflower planting, a series of treatment wetlands that will treat runoff from four agricultural drainages, and a stormwater pond/treatment wetland combination that will treat runoff from a large dairy concentrated animal feeding operation.

The Trust Fund is administered by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and guided by the Chesapeake Bay Cabinet and a governor-appointed scientific advisory panel. Staff works with local partners on stormwater infrastructure improvements and nature-based water quality improvements while employing the latest technologies and scientific knowledge. Since its creation in 2007, the Trust Fund has supported more than 2,200 projects, supporting approximately 2,600 jobs.

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