Eleven Innovative Projects Receive $5.8 Million to Reduce Pollution Throughout Chesapeake Bay Waters

Eleven innovative environmental projects throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed will reduce an estimated 1.5 million pounds of nitrogen, 51,000 pounds of phosphorus and 20,000 pounds of sediment from entering the Bay and its local waterways with $5.8 million in grants through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Program.

The Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Program, part of the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, provides up to $1 million to innovative and cost-effective projects that dramatically reduce or eliminate nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution into local streams, creeks, rivers and the Bay.

Collectively, the 11 projects exemplify creative and effective ways to build partnerships, bridge communities, advance technology and implement innovative practices such as green infrastructure and agricultural conservation — all of which are necessary to reducing polluted runoff from cities, suburbs and farmland.

The 11 projects are:

• The South River Federation - Treating urban runoff in two mid-bay creeks using Regenerative Stormwater Conveyance (RSC) technology.
• The Shenandoah Resource Conservation and Development Council - Facilitating a culture of “conservation from farm to table” and reducing nutrients and sediments in food and fiber production on a regional scale.
• The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University – Reducing ammonia emission and runoff from broiler litter on two farms in the Shenandoah Valley and two farms on the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
• Lancaster, Pa. – Implementing six highly visible green infrastructure projects.
• The Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education – Making subsoiling and pervious paving an integral element of sustainable urban landscaping to reduce nutrient and sediment loads.
• Prince George’s County, Md. - Implementing three best management practices to reduce stormwater volumes and nutrient loads from the University of Maryland campus in the Anacostia River watershed.
• The Chester River Association - Reducing nutrient and sediment loadings through implementation of agricultural practices like enhanced nutrient management; septic upgrades, rain gardens and expanded urban tree canopy in developed areas; and restoration of natural filters.
• The Herring Run Watershed Association - Retrofitting the Butchers Hill neighborhood and alleys in Baltimore City with several green infrastructure projects for the small, dense urban area.
• The Maryland Department of Agriculture – Implementing statewide adaptive cover crop management tools to more effectively manage winter cover crop programs for water quality protection.
• The Potomac Conservancy - Promoting Low Impact Development (LID) through an assessment of 37 counties and cities in the non-tidal portion of Virginia’s Chesapeake Bay watershed.
• The Chesapeake Bay Foundation – Creation and implementation of the Onancock Watershed Restoration Project, a “whole-community” approach to watershed restoration through urban and agricultural best management practices.

The grants are funded by the U.S. EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program and administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. Grant awardees provided an additional $10 million in matching funds.

“These projects demonstrate innovative strategies for how we can continue to live, work and play in one of the most densely populated regions of the country, while at the same time minimizing the impact on our downstream neighbors and the thousands of fish and wildlife species that call the Chesapeake Bay their home,” said Tom Kelsch, Director of Conservation Programs of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

For more information about the Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund, visit www.nfwf.org/chesapeake.