{"id":45148,"date":"2025-07-23T08:20:45","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T12:20:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=45148"},"modified":"2025-07-23T09:42:53","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:42:53","slug":"maryland-waterway-improvement-fund-provides-20-million-in-capital-grants-for-public-boating-access-navigable-waterways-and-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/07\/23\/maryland-waterway-improvement-fund-provides-20-million-in-capital-grants-for-public-boating-access-navigable-waterways-and-safety\/","title":{"rendered":"Maryland Waterway Improvement Fund Provides $20 Million in Capital Grants for Public Boating Access, Navigable Waterways and Safety"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Boat

Oak Creek Landing public “soft launch” boat access in Talbot County was upgraded using a previous Waterway Improvement Fund grant. Maryland Department of Natural Resources photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will provide $20 million in Waterway Improvement Fund<\/a> allocations to communities and projects throughout Maryland in Fiscal Year 2026, which begins July 1.\u00a0The funds will support new and improved public boating access facilities, dredging of navigable public waterways; emergency vessels and equipment for local first responders; and other important infrastructure and initiatives.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cKeeping Maryland\u2019s waterways accessible, safe, and navigable is a priority for our maritime state,\u201d said Maryland Secretary of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz. \u201cAnd it\u2019s a team effort, requiring the remarkable cooperative management of local, state, and federal infrastructure and resources. DNR is proud to administer the Waterway Improvement Fund, an essential program funded by Maryland\u2019s boating public and distributed in close partnership with our waterfront communities.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Waterway Improvement Fund is primarily derived from the one-time 5% excise tax when a boat is purchased and titled in the state, as well as a small portion of the state gas tax. It has been used to construct and maintain more than 400 public boating facilities, 250 public navigational channels, and to acquire vessels.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Applications are reviewed and projects are selected based on local government and state priorities, which are evaluated to determine the benefit to the general boating public. Fiscal Year 2026 applications totaled more than $42.8 million in Waterway Improvement Fund requests.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Beginning July 15, the Department of Natural Resources will accept Waterway Improvement Fund applications for the next fiscal year through the department\u2019s <\/span>online \u200b<\/span>Grants Gateway<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Projects funded in FY26 include:<\/span><\/p>\n

Anne Arundel County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Upper West River and Johns Creek, dredging
\n<\/span>$530,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Annapolis Fire Department, fire and rescue vessel and equipment
\n<\/span>$32,250<\/span><\/p>\n

Reconfiguring of St Mary’s Creek mooring field in Spa Creek, Annapolis
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Baltimore County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Cox\u2019s Point Park boating facility replacement
\n<\/span>$450,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Shallow Creek and North Point Creek Maintenance dredging
\n<\/span>$500,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Replacement of boat ramps at Rocky Point Park\u00a0
\n<\/span>$200,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Replacement and expansion of Dundee Creek Marina
\n<\/span>$500,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Caroline County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Replacement of bulkhead at Crouse Park
\n<\/span>$225,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Greensboro boating facility and parking\/access road improvements
\n<\/span>$75,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Charles County:<\/b><\/p>\n

New engines for two Cobb Island Volunteer Fire Department fire and rescue vessels
\n<\/span>$40,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Sweden Point Marina improvements\u00a0
\n<\/span>$1 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Dorchester County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Cambridge Municipal Marina wave attenuator
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Cambridge Municipal Marina replacement of timber decking
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Frederick County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Brunswick Volunteer Ambulance and Rescue vessel
\n<\/span>$15,500<\/span><\/p>\n

Harford County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Swan Harbor Farm dredge material placement site remediation\u00a0
\n<\/span>$1.5 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Maintenance dredging of navigable public boating channels in Foster Branch
\n<\/span>$200,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Prince George\u2019s County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Piscataway Creek dredging
\n<\/span>$200,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Queen Anne\u2019s County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Phase 2 dredging of Queenstown Creek channel and beneficial use of material
\n<\/span>$1.5 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Evaluation and engineering for Kent Narrows jetty
\n<\/span>$75,000<\/span><\/p>\n

United Communities Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department vessel and equipment
\n<\/span>$80,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Vessel and equipment
\n<\/span>$80,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Somerset County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Somers Cove Marina bulkhead replacement and facility improvements
\n<\/span>$4.5 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Reconstruction of Somerset County dock in Ewell
\n<\/span>$350,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Shoreline protection for the navigable channel at Ewell Basin
\n<\/span>$50,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Renovation of public boating infrastructure at Ewell Basin
\n<\/span>$75,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Construction of a stone breakwater to protect the Tylerton Harbor
\n<\/span>$400,000<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Mary\u2019s County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Wicomico Shores boating pier improvements
\n<\/span>$199,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Point Lookout State Park Marina improvements
\n<\/span>$1 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Forest Landing Boating facility repairs
\n<\/span>$50,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Talbot County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Channel dredging at Clairborne Landing
\n<\/span>$50,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Replacement of the bulkhead and boating structures at Tilghman Street in Oxford
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

St. Michaels West Harbor Road and Chew Avenue public marina improvements
\n<\/span>$150,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Boating facility improvements on Tilghman Creek\u00a0
\n<\/span>$75,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Wicomico County:<\/b><\/p>\n

Leonards Mill Park boat ramp replacement and improvements
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Nanticoke Harbor boat ramp replacement
\n<\/span>$75,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Cedar Hill Boat Ramp Reconstruction in Bivalve\u00a0
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Worcester County:<\/b><\/p>\n

George Island Landing boating facility improvements
\n<\/span>$250,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Pocomoke State Park Shad Landing Marina improvements
\n<\/span>$1 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Statewide (Funds used by DNR for the benefit of all waterway users):<\/b><\/p>\n

Clean Vessel Act – Pumpout Program Equipment\u00a0
\n<\/span>$213,785<\/span><\/p>\n

DNR vessel for surveying, monitoring, buoy maintenance and deployment, and storm response
\n<\/span>$400,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Matching funds required for statewide federal boating grant program
\n<\/span>$300,000<\/span><\/p>\n

Statewide emergency and maintenance dredging needs
\n<\/span>$1.66 million<\/span><\/p>\n

Design and construction of eligible shore erosion control projects
\n<\/span>$500,000<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources will provide $20 million in Waterway Improvement Fund allocations to communities and projects throughout Maryland in Fiscal Year 2026, which begins July 1.\u00a0The funds will support new and improved public boating access facilities, dredging of navigable public waterways; emergency vessels and equipment for local first responders; and other important  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,3171,33],"tags":[4577,3736,2982,4981,2981],"class_list":["post-45148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-boating","category-the-bay","tag-boating-access","tag-boating-safety","tag-chesapeake-bay","tag-maryland-state-parks","tag-waterway-improvement-fund"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45148"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45148\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45158,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45148\/revisions\/45158"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}