ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program recently announced over $12 million in grant awards to support water quality improvement efforts in Virginia.
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, this grant will leverage over $20.6 million in matching contributions to generate a total conservation impact of over $32.7 million.
The grant was awarded through the Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction Grant (INSR) program. According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, INSR is a key funding mechanism designed to support on-the-ground nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment reduction activities across the Bay watershed.
The program is administered by NFWF, in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Program and EPA, under NFWF’s Chesapeake Bay Stewardship Fund (CBSF).
“With 2024 marking 25 years of partnership between NFWF and the EPA in advancing efforts to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay watershed, we’re thrilled to celebrate this programmatic milestone with a record annual investment of $25 million in voluntary and community-based projects across the Bay watershed,’ said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and CEO of NFWF.
According to the Chesapeake Bay Program, the seven grant awards in Virginia include:
- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay ($2 million): This project will increase the adoption of riparian buffers and agricultural best management practices on private lands through the use of tailored incentive programs and flexible funding to advance farm-scale conservation systems. This will result in 240 acres of riparian forest buffers being restored.
- Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay ($2 million): This funding will expand successful supply-chain-driven corporate partnership models to increase the adoption of agricultural conservation practices to improve water quality within the Chesapeake Bay watershed in Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia. This project will install high-impact agricultural and manure management practices across 500 acres.
- Alliance for the Shenandoah Valley ($1,632,400): This project will accelerate the rate of implementation and increase the effectiveness of water quality best management practices in a high-priority agricultural region of the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This will result in the implementation of 25 miles of livestock-exclusion fencing and the adoption of agricultural conservation practices on 3,500 acres.
- Friends of the Rappahannock ($1,573,100): This funding will be used to scale up climate-smart conservation best management practices to protect and restore water quality by expanding the capacity of the Rappahannock River Roundtable and York River and Small Coastal Basins Roundtable. The project will implement 150 acres of new riparian forest buffers and plant 150 acres of upland trees through improved coordination of stream delisting strategies, enhanced access to landowner outreach tools and diversifying contractor engagement.
- James River Association ($1,457,500): This funding will build capacity through the Upper and Middle James River Riparian Consortium to combat remaining barriers in the adoption of riparian forest buffer restoration practices. This project will implement a framework for resilient funding and implement 47 miles of riparian forest buffers in new regions and landscapes.
- Sustainable Chesapeake ($1,999,500): This project will expand the adoption of manure injection and nutrient management practices in the Chesapeake Bay region through partnership and collaboration. This will result in 13,600 agricultural acres under improved nutrient management by encouraging private investments in new equipment and improved outreach and education for nutrient management planners, certified crop advisors and conservation professionals.
- Trout Unlimited ($1,411,700): This funding will promote stream and riparian best management practices, as well as broader farm-scale conservation systems through improved outreach and technical assistance, new riparian buffers and new maintenance programs to help ensure the longevity of the conservation impact. The project will restore nine miles of riparian habitat and reduce annual sediment pollution by nearly one million pounds.
“These grants reflect our continuing commitment to protect the Chesapeake Bay and preserve our nation’s environmental legacy for future generations,” said EPA Chesapeake Bay Program Office Director Martha Shimkin. “It is inspiring to be working with so many awardees who have long been committed to preserving, protecting and enhancing the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed.”
In addition, NFWF and EPA have further prioritized investments that accelerate implementation of natural and nature-based watershed restoration practices that provide long-term water quality improvement benefits, increase aquatic and terrestrial habitat for at-risk species, and enhance climate resilience for human and wildlife communities.
The Chesapeake Bay Program noted these awards will provide important contributions to collective goals and outcomes of the Chesapeake Bay Program, including restoring 170 miles of riparian forest buffer, implementing agricultural best management practices on 40,000 acres, and reducing annual nitrogen pollution by roughly half a million pounds.
A complete list of the 2024 Chesapeake Bay Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction grant recipients is available here.
