Special Notice:
Please view our informational webinar. An overview of the Whole Watershed Fund and the recording can be found here.

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The Whole Watershed Act (SB 969/HB 1165) establishes a highly collaborative, science-based approach to watershed restoration across the state promoting innovative, science-based solutions to waterway restoration efforts. The legislation will utilize existing state funds to create a new Whole Watershed Fund supporting a five-year pilot program targeting five Maryland watersheds that best represent the state’s diverse land uses, geographies, and impairments.

A direct response to the Chesapeake Bay Program’s Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee’s Comprehensive Evaluation of System Response (CESR) report, the pilot projects will address multiple restoration and conservation benefits, including water quality, increased public access, wildlife habitat, fisheries improvement, environmental justice and climate resiliency. Selected projects will be overseen by a State Management Team, made up of agency experts, to help find efficiencies in project permitting and funding, and to measure project results.

Click on image below to review the solicitation and all submission guidelines and requirements.​​

Whole Watershed RFP​​​

Whole Watershed FAQ

Public Feedback Submission Form

Proposal Abstracts​

Deadline
All proposals must be submitted by 11:59 pm on Tues​day, December 3, 2024.

The application process is done online, click here to begin. ​​​​
Applications CANNOT be mailed, faxed or submitted in person.​

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WATERSHED SELECTION CRITERIA​

Image: Maryland 8-digit watersheds: Interactive map link

The purpose of the Whole Watershed Restoration Partnership is to accelerate restoration of the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays and their watersheds by equitably focusing assistance on actions and areas that are:

1. cost–effective;
2. likely to demonstrate a rapid systemic response to restoration activity, including rapid de–listing of impaired streams identified under § 303(d) of the federal clean water act; and
3. supported by the local community government

The watershed criteria and resources provided are intended to aid local governments and project sponsors to assess their 8-digit watersheds (“project”) for the best fit suite of best management practices (“actions”) to propose to the State Management Team. The State Management Team and technical review panel will be responsible for selecting up to 5 candidate watersheds, with a goal to select:

1. One predominantly urban area
2. One predominantly suburban area
3. Two reducing runoff in a predominantly agricultural area
4. One with a collaborative effort with an adjoining state

At least Two (2) of the above Five (5) watersheds / projects must be located within and provide benefit to overburdened or underserved communities.

Watershed Criteria

The State Management Team will evaluate proposals based on whether the project:

1. is located in a watershed in which habitat restoration and pollution reduction will:
1. result in the greatest improvements to shallow water habitat and living resources;
2. achieve rapid de–listing of impaired streams identified under § 303(d) of the federal clean water act and published in the Department of the Environment’s triennial review of water quality standards; or
3. generate rapidly–improving conditions in the local ecosystem;
2. emphasizes actions that are expected to provide the greatest, most cost–effective, and measurable amount of pollution reduction;
3. supports land use policies, conservation programs, and restoration protocols at the local level that will sustain project actions and outcomes;
4. has documented interest from a group of affected property owners to allow restoration or conservation actions on their property;
5. minimizes the loss of trees and other natural habitats;
6. demonstrates opportunities to implement actions that reduce environmental disparities experienced by overburdened or underserved communities;
7. demonstrates opportunities to foster innovation in restoration science or practices;
8. in addition to land–based habitat restoration and water quality improvement, anticipates at least five benefits related to:
1. the creation or restoration of wildlife habitat, riparian buffers, and wetland restoration;
2. the restoration of aquatic resources, such as fresh water mussels, fish passage, or oyster reefs;
3. carbon sequestration;
4. climate change mitigation, adaptation, or resilience;
5. local employment opportunities;
6. improving and protecting public health; and
7. recreational opportunities and public access to waterways and natural habitats; and
9. creates partnership opportunities among nonprofit and for profit organizations, community organizations, all levels of government, and scientists.

Resources

• Maryland 8-digit Watersheds - All proposed actions must occur within one 8-digit watershed.
• Achieve Delist/Rapid Response for the local ecosystem -
• Surface water quality assessment (IR) and TMDL GIS Tool (MDE) - Potential applicants are encouraged to consider the pollutants of concern to tailor their actions appropriately.
• Existing Restoration - Bundling Opportunity. Are there opportunities to implement additional upland restoration to protect downstream resources? Some resources to consult include, but are not limited to
• Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Trust Fund Mapper (DNR)
• Stormwater Print (MDE)
• Local Government Support - Project sponsors are required to provide protection measures that ensure the benefits and improvements resulting from the actions are maintained. This could be accomplished through comprehensive planning, easements, guaranteed operation and maintenance, adaptive management plans or other mechanisms.
• Improve Living Resources and Shallow Water Habitat - Through restoration, protection and conservation, project actions should provide benefits to improve living resources and shallow water habitat. Maryland’s Coastal Atlas has multiple data layers and tools that can identify areas for implementation. Examples include, but are not limited to:
• Targeted Ecological Areas: Targeted Ecological Areas (TEAs) are lands and watersheds of high ecological value that have been identified as conservation priorities by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for natural resource protection. These areas represent the most ecologically valuable areas in the State: they are the "best of the best".
• Habitat Connectivity Network​ (formally Green Infrastructure Network)​​: If you are proposing a project that could help link natural corridors or hubs, use this tool to find out if the proposed project area is adjacent to valuable natural areas.
• Current Oyster Sanctuaries: If you are proposing an oyster restoration, it could be helpful to use this map to see if there is an Oyster Sanctuary nearby to encourage natural spat set or to enhance the benefits associated with the existing oyster population and reef community.
• Stronghold watersheds: Tree planting efforts within these watersheds would help to fortify strongholds.
• Wetland adaptation areas or Uplands to wetlands, as shown on Maryland’s Coastal Atlas to support the migration and survival of wetlands as sea level rises.
• Reduce Environmental Disparities Experienced by Overburdened or Underserved Communities
• Maryland’s Environmental Justice Screening Tool: Provides users with data to inform their decisions on siting, permitting, enforcement, and infrastructure improvements. The demographic and socioeconomic data, coupled with MDE-specific elements such as proximity to active high air emission facilities, or wastewater treatment facilities, will be used to help underserved and overburdened communities in Maryland.

​​Whole Watershed FAQ

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Public Feedback

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Proposal Abstracts

1) ShoreRivers - Upper Choptank
The Upper Choptank Whole Watershed Project uses a holistic approach to rapidly improve local water quality conditions in the Upper Choptank River. Led by partners involved in the Envision the Choptank collaborative, the project identifies four predominantly agricultural focal areas to target investment in management practices across farmland, and address stormwater, wastewater, and habitat concerns with local governments and disenfranchised communities at a scale capable of showing water quality improvement. A defining feature of the project is involving individuals and groups who work with project partners to co-create solutions to problems of mutual interest. The community-based approach leverages local concern and motivation to accelerate implementation of durable restoration actions that range from in-field and edge-of-field practices on farms, to septic, sewer, green infrastructure, and wildlife habitat enhancements in communities and neighborhoods. Modeled practice efficiencies inform investment decisions during the planning phase, and robust field monitoring verifies results after projects are completed.

2) Coastal Bays - Newport Bay
Newport Bay watershed is varied in both landscapes and people. It contains extensive marshes, farms, forests, and towns, while encompassing the most diverse community in the Coastal Bays. This comprehensive watershed restoration addresses 1) the need for enhanced stormwater management through nature-based stream and wetland restoration 2) sea level rise and salt marsh deterioration through marsh restoration 3) agricultural runoff through outreach to farmers for conservation practices, and 4) wastewater pollution by connecting septic systems to public sewer. Ayres Creek and Trappe Creek are the largest tributaries to Newport Bay and will be focal points within the watershed due to their contributions of excess nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment from the urban/suburban parts of the watershed downstream. Newport Bay consistently scores the lowest out of the five Coastal Bays in the annual Maryland Coastal Bays Report Card, which assesses the health of the bays using four water quality indicators (nitrogen, phosphorus, chlorophyll a, dissolved oxygen) and two biotic indicators (seagrass, hard clam). This multi-year restoration effort will address the key issues causing Newport Bay to be the unhealthiest of the Coastal Bays and specifically aims to improve water quality to restore shallow water habitat.

3) Gunpowder Valley Conservancy - Prettyboy Reservoir
The Prettyboy Reservoir Watershed is the cold-water headwaters to Prettyboy Reservoir that drains predominantly agricultural areas in Baltimore and Carroll Counties as well as the headwater in York County, Pennsylvania. This Whole Watershed collaboration will be led by the Gunpowder Valley Conservancy, a non-profit community organization whose mission is to engage, connect, and inspire people to preserve and restore the Gunpowder Watershed that includes the Prettyboy Reservoir. This program will bring together municipal and agricultural agencies with community groups to collaborate on cost-effective and science-based solutions to meet common goals of improving water quality in impaired streams, improving fisheries and wildlife habitat, and addressing environmental justice and climate resiliency. This coalition of knowledge, expertise, and resources will be able to bring real and measurable improvements to the valuable natural resources of the watershed.

4) Southern MD Resource Conservation and Development Board - Lower Patuxent River
Across the Lower Patuxent Watershed, communities recognize the need to improve water quality as part of building resilience in the region. The goals of this project are to expand on existing entities to build a collaboration infrastructure for coordination, integration, and aggregation of outcome-driven actions that would promote innovative, science-based solutions to waterway restoration efforts in the Lower Patuxent River and surrounding watershed and would inject new energy and investment in the implementation of the Patuxent River Policy Plan and the work of the Patuxent River Commission. The project will address ongoing water quality, habitat, and climate change issues while providing multiple restoration and conservation benefits, expanding equitable access to conservation resources, and enhancing climate resilience.

5) Washington College - Langford Creek
Washington College, ShoreRivers, Eastern Shore Land Conservancy, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory, Orchard Point Oyster Co., and The Nature Conservancy—together now known as The Langford Watershed Alliance—propose innovative and comprehensive restoration and monitoring efforts throughout Langford Creek Watershed. A tributary of the Chester River, this small and predominantly agricultural watershed struggles to meet water quality standards for nutrients, bacteria, and sediment. To restore Langford Creek, our Alliance will (1) utilize innovative best management practices (BMPs) to accelerate water quality improvements, (2) implement farm scale precision mapping for targeted BMPs installations, (3) restore nearshore habitat with native grass, wetlands, stream restoration practices and forests to support wildlife, (4) increase use of targeted in-field agricultural best practices, such as no till, cover crops, targeted fertilizer application, in areas prone to stormwater runoff, (5) rebuild and protect oyster and Submerged Aquatic Vegetation habitat, (6) install living shorelines to protect against erosion and provide increased incentives for landowners and farm operators for implementation of innovative practices, (7) identify and remediate sources of bacteria through septic remediation upgrades, (8) engage in boater education to reduce wave action, and (9) establish monitoring stations throughout the watershed to track progress. This innovative and holistic restoration of Langford Creek Watershed will serve as a model for future projects Bay wide, and we cannot do this work alone. Local communities, governments, and industries will help to guide our work to ensure the result is authentically informed by and for the communities who treasure Langford Creek the most.

6) South Baltimore Gateway Partnership - Baltimore Harbor
The Middle Branch Resiliency Initiative (“MBRI”) is a coordinated suite of nature-based infrastructure actions around the highly urban shoreline of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, within the Baltimore Harbor Watershed. The MBRI is the shoreline restoration arm of Reimagine Middle Branch (“RMB”), a community-driven environmental justice initiative working to restore approximately 11 miles of shoreline along the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River. The MBRI leverages and intersects with the RMB framework and local programs designed to engage community members and local stakeholders in restoration efforts, including the RMB Committees (detailed in the Partner Engagement Plan), the Chesapeake Watershed Restoration

Academy workforce development program, research collaborations, and community engagement and programming.

MBRI actions will improve water quality; increase riparian and aquatic habitat function, value, and diversity; reduce risk of coastal hazards and impacts of climate change; restore public access to enhanced waterfront greenspace; improve public health and welfare; and actively engage community members in the stewardship of their environment, ensuring that legacy residents are the primary beneficiaries of all improvements. This Project is in the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River, the area that continues to experience the worst environmental injustices in the Baltimore Harbor Watershed. Developed over four years of community engagement through the RMB planning process, actions under the MBRI include shoreline stabilization, habitat restoration, stormwater management, flood risk reduction, recreational access improvements, and community engagement within historically underserved communities in South Baltimore.

7) Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County - Severn River
The Severn River, a 14-mile tidal estuary in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, is a critical tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. Its 81-square-mile watershed supports diverse aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems but faces challenges due to urban development and environmental degradation. To address these issues, the Severn Engagement and Vital Ecosystem Restoration Network (The SEVERN) adopts a whole watershed approach that integrates innovative, nature-based restoration and conservation practices with robust, targeted community outreach and engagement. The SEVERN emphasizes the restoration of shallow water habitats, wetlands, and shorelines to enhance ecosystem resilience, support productive fisheries, and improve habitat for key species. By aligning efforts with the recommendations of leading Chesapeake Bay scientists, The SEVERN demonstrates scalable, science-based solutions to regional ecological challenges. Through dynamic partnerships among local citizens, businesses, non-governmental organizations, and watershed groups, The SEVERN exemplifies the collaborative spirit envisioned in the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement and Maryland’s Whole Watershed Act. This approach not only strengthens the Severn River’s ecosystem but also fosters community resilience to climate hazards, setting a precedent for localized, impactful Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts.

8) The Nature Conservancy - Anacostia
Anacostia Watershed Restoration Partnership will bring together a diverse group of partners from the governmental, non-profit, private, and academic sectors with the common goal of a healthier Anacostia Watershed for the river and its surrounding communities. The watershed, home to over 800,000 people, 43 fish species, and 200 bird species, has been heavily urbanized, losing 6,500 acres of wetlands and 70% of its forest cover due to over 25% impervious surface cover increase. The communities in the watershed face significant economic challenges, including low employment rates, high poverty rates, and poor health indicators. This proposal focuses on Sligo Creek and the Northwest Branch to improve conditions for underserved communities, enhancing collaboration among Montgomery County, Prince George’s County, and the District of Columbia. Projects under this proposal include green infrastructure, stormwater management facilities, innovative technology integration, tree and native habitat planting, community education, workforce development, and community outreach, supported by a robust monitoring plan to demonstrate the impact of this collaborative effort and the team’s long-standing history of environmental work in the region.

9) Catoctin Land Trust - Antietam Creek
The Antietam Creek Restoration Collaborative (ACRC) consists of Federal, State, Local and nonprofit partners working together to identify, design, and implement BMP’s, throughout the watershed in a predominantly agricultural setting with underserved, overburdened communities in rural areas as well as cities such as Hagerstown, MD and Waynesboro, PA. Partners will conduct community outreach and implement conservation practices to improve water quality and quantity with the goal of delisting stream segments from the dirty waters list with restoration practices such as: urban tree plantings, riparian forest buffers, cattle stream exclusion fencing, row crop conversion to pasture, stormwater management, and stream restoration to provide boat access and in-stream fisheries habitat for recreation. The Heart of Maryland Collaborative will convene project partners quarterly, coordinating community outreach and documenting conservation implementation to reach the project's goal. Many of the ACRC partners have been working together off and on since 2005 when a Maryland watershed group, Beaver Creek Watershed Association and the Antietam Watershed Association in Pennsylvania convened the four Bishops leading the Washington MD & Franklin County PA Mennonite Church, as this community owns or leases 60 percent of the farmland in the Antietam Creek watershed. ACRC will reunite and expand this partnership crossing state boundaries to take a true Whole Watershed approach for water quality, biodiversity and community resilience.