Watershed Assistance Grant Program

The Watershed Assistance Grant Program, a collaboration between the Chesapeake Bay Trust and state agencies, aims to enhance water quality in Maryland and West Virginia. This initiative supports watershed restoration project designs and planning, enabling local governments and nonprofits to secure future funding for implementation. By fostering innovative planning efforts, the program assists in developing essential strategies like Green Infrastructure Plans and TMDL Implementation Plans, ultimately contributing to healthier watersheds and communities.

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 – new this year – 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 improved water quality in:

• The entire State of Maryland
• The West Virginia portion of the Chesapeake Bay watershed
• Click Here to View Map of Eligible Locations

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.