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 Are you looking for funding and technical assistance for projects to restore the Bay's watersheds? Check out the resources in our Maryland Watershed Restoration Assistance Directory. |
Maryland Sea Grant Extension’s team of watershed restoration specialists is working with local governments, citizen groups, and individuals to improve water quality across Maryland.
What the Specialists Do
Watershed Restoration Projects
We assist communities to connect to funding, contractors, and technical assistance for these projects. They include installing rain gardens, rain barrels, and conservation landscapes. These are designed to manage runoff from stormwater, bring back the natural flow of streams, and decrease the erosion of shorelines and stream banks.
Training Volunteers
Extension specialists are also assisting communities to establish watershed steward academies. These programs have already trained more than 100 volunteers in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Stewards serve as community leaders to plan and execute stormwater management projects, like building rain gardens, in their communities.
Helping Communities Meet Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Goals
Communities may need to consider a range of watershed restoration projects to meet federal and state requirements called Total Maximum Daily Loads, or TMDLs. These mandate reducing the amount of excess nutrients and sediments reaching the Bay by 2025. Extension specialists are developing a “SMART Tracking Tool" to log the installation of small-scale Best Management Practices, or BMPs, to control stormwater. Small-scale projects are installed by a single homeowner or business, for example. This tracking will allow counties to count small-scale BMPs in their progress toward meeting TMDL targets. The goal is cleaner water, locally and Bay-wide.
