Watershed Assistance Grant Program

The Watershed Assistance Grant Program is a partnership between the Chesapeake Bay Trust (Trust), the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (MDNR), the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and the West Virginia’s Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP).

This program provides support for watershed restoration project designs and permitting and for watershed planning and programmatic development. The ultimate goal of the projects funded through this opportunity will be to improve water quality in:

• The entire State of Maryland
• The West Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed
• The State of Pennsylvania (within the Octoraro Creek and Conowingo Creek watersheds in the Chester and Lancaster Counties)

By funding the earliest phases of watershed restoration projects and planning, the funding partners aim to provide local governments and non-profit organizations the ability to position themselves to quickly advance implementation work. The funding partners hope the products of grants funded under this opportunity will enable grantees to:

• Leverage resulting designs, plans, or projects to craft future proposals for implementation funding to the Maryland Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, grant programs at the Chesapeake Bay Trust, or other sources of support;
• Develop deliverables that will support local planning efforts such as Financial Assurance Plans (FAPs), Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plans, county-wide Green Infrastructure Plans, watershed action plans, and State of Maryland Phase III Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) strategies and associated State Two-year Milestones.

What this funds: This grant program welcomes applications for the following project types.

• Type 1: Project Design
  • Generally, requests are up to $100,000 for the design of best management practices (BMPs), including the following:
    • Bioretention cells and large-scale rain gardens;
    • Stormwater management practices, that include low-impact development (LID) techniques, green infrastructure (GI), water quality BMPs, and environmental site design (ESD),
    • Submerged gravel wetlands, and
    • Agricultural BMPs.

• • Generally, requests are up to $150,000 for design of
    • Stream restoration practices,
    • Wetland and marsh creation/restoration projects, and
    • Living shorelines.

• Type 2: Watershed Planning and Program Development
  • Generally, requests are up to $75,000.

Who can apply: The Trust, MDNR, MDE, and WVDEP welcome requests from the following organizations:

• Municipal, County, and Regional Agencies
• Nonprofit Organizations
• Faith-based Organizations
• Community and Homeowners Associations (HOAs)
• Soil/Water Conservation Districts & Resource Conservation and Development Councils
• Forestry Boards
• Public and Independent Higher Educational Institutions

*If your organization category is not listed above, please contact the Trust to verify eligibility prior to submitting your application*

Is match required? Match is encouraged but not required.

Eligible Locations:  All communities in Maryland, throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed in West Virginia, and the Pennsylvania portions of the Octoraro and Conowingo Creek Watersheds are eligible.

Click Here to view Eligible Areas Map

Watershed Assistance Collaborative (WAC): This grant program is one element of the State of Maryland’s Watershed Assistance Collaborative: https://dnr.maryland.gov/ccs/Pages/healthy_waters/wac.aspx. The Collaborative is a partnership that provides services and technical assistance to communities to advance restoration activities and projects. By leveraging resources of existing programs, the Watershed Assistance Collaborative exists to provide coordinated capacity building opportunities to local implementers. As an additional element of the Collaborative, the University of Maryland Sea Grant Extension Watershed Restoration Specialists (WRS) work to help local jurisdictions secure expertise and funding, especially from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund, to implement restoration projects that produce measurable improvements in water quality. For assistance in identifying potential service providers, or identifying potential community partners, Maryland applicants are encouraged to contact the Watershed Restoration Specialist in their area* and County, as shown in the map below, using this form: https://bit.ly/WACTechnicalAssistanceRequest.