Maryland Releases Whole Watershed Proposal Criteria

Criteria to help identify eligible watersheds for pilot restoration program

Little Blackwater River watershed in Dorchester County. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.

The Maryland Whole Watershed Restoration Partnership has released a preliminary list of watershed criteria, along with available data sets, to aid local governments, non-governmental organizations and project sponsors to assess local watersheds for proposed restoration and funding.

The Whole Watershed Act (SB 969/HB 1165) establishes a highly collaborative, science-based approach to watershed restoration across the state to promote innovative, science-based solutions to waterway restoration efforts. The legislation will use existing state funds to create a new Whole Watershed Fund that will support a five-year pilot program targeting five Maryland watersheds that best represent the state’s diverse land uses, geographies, and impairments.  

“The Whole Watershed Act represents an opportunity to shift the way we’ve approached ecological restoration and conservation in Maryland,” said Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. “Working with diverse project partnerships across five watersheds, we can realize local benefits ranging from better water quality and new habitats to community health improvements and new job opportunities. Taken together, these local benefits will also help Maryland reach its overall restoration goals for the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal bays.”

A direct response to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee’s Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response (CESR) report, the pilot projects will be designed to address multiple restoration and conservation benefits, including water quality, increased public access, wildlife habitat, fisheries improvement, environmental justice, and climate resiliency. Selected projects will be overseen by a state management team composed of agency experts to help find efficiencies in project permitting and funding as well as to evaluate results.

Targeted watershed criteria and resources for evaluation for best fit can be reviewed on the DNR website.

A request for proposals will be issued on or before October 1, 2024 by the state management team to select up to five watersheds to include one predominantly urban area; one in a predominantly suburban area; two reducing runoff in a predominantly agricultural area; and one with a collaborative effort with an adjoining state. At least two of the five selected watersheds must be located within and provide benefit to overburdened or underserved communities.