A white-tailed deer peers from the edge of a wetland on Maryland’s upper Choptank River, one of four watersheds in the Chesapeake Bay system chosen by the state for focused restoration efforts. (Photo by Dave Harp/Chesapeake Bay Journal)
By Timothy Wheeler
The Chesapeake Bay Journal
Maryland is targeting five of its ailing watersheds for a concentrated push to restore them — but the state’s budget crisis has put funding for the effort in doubt .
The Department of Natural Resources announced March 6 that it has selected Antietam Creek in Washington County, Baltimore Harbor, Newport Bay near Ocean City, the Severn River in Anne Arundel County and the upper Choptank River on the Eastern Shore for a “collaborative and science-based approach” to reducing pollution and improving shallow-water habitat.
The watersheds — four connected with the Chesapeake Bay and one that’s part of an Atlantic coastal bay — are the first chosen under the state’s Whole Watershed Act passed in 2024. The law calls for focusing “cost-effective” water quality improvement measures over a five-year period in areas likely to show a rapid response.
The legislation came in response to a 2023 scientific report that warned existing programs to curb urban and farm runoff polluting the Bay and its rivers were falling short. It recommended shifting efforts to improve habitat for fish, especially in shallow waters.
“These five watersheds, which span the state of Maryland, will usher in the next phase of Chesapeake and Atlantic coastal bays restoration,” DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz said in a press release. “By working closely with local partners and focusing on specific areas, we believe we can more quickly attain statewide clean water goals.”
DNR chose the watersheds from nine proposals submitted last fall by teams made up of community organizations, local governments, private firms and other groups in each watershed. The winning proposals were selected for most closely meeting the law’s requirements that they target a mix of urban, suburban and rural areas, and that at least two be in “an overburdened or underserved community.”
The lead organization on the Baltimore harbor proposal, as an example, is the nonprofit South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, which is already engaged in creating wetlands along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River to reduce flood risk and filter stormwater. The partnership is also working to improve fish habitat, plant trees, increase waterfront access and spur economic growth in South Baltimore neighborhoods like Cherry Hill and Westport.
On the upper Choptank, the nonprofit ShoreRivers and its partners proposed targeting pollution management practices in four predominantly agricultural areas and also working with local governments and disenfranchised communities to address stormwater, wastewater and habitat concerns.
The law calls for financing the work by pooling funding from several existing sources, including the Maryland Cost Share Program (MACS), Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Foundation (MALPF), Bay Restoration Fund, Clean Water Commerce Act fund, Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, and Waterway Improvement Fund.
DNR had planned to award $2 million in the coming year to each of the selected watersheds, using money from the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund, Bay Restoration Fund and Clean Water Commerce Act fund. Some farm-related projects are to receive grants through funding controlled by the Maryland Department of Agriculture.
But Maryland lawmakers are struggling to close a projected $3 billion state budget gap, and legislative analysts have proposed taking revenue normally earmarked for land preservation and runoff pollution reduction grants, draining at least three of the funding sources DNR had planned to use.
DNR is urging lawmakers to ignore the analysts’ recommendation.
“We have emphasized to state legislators, who just passed the Whole Watershed Act last year, that this funding is integral to implementing their vision to achieve watershed-scale environmental improvements and community benefits,” DNR spokesman AJ Metcalf said.