New Grant Program Announced to Focus on Stream
Restoration Process
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Molly Alton Mullins, 410.974.2941, Ext. 107
(Annapolis, MD) June 10, 2015 – Today the Chesapeake Bay Trust, in partnership with the Maryland
Department of Natural Resources and the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and with
input from the Maryland Department of the Environment, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and other
agency and technical partners, announce four recipients of its new collaborative Restoration Research
Grant Program. This program was created to answer key restoration questions to benefit the stream
restoration process. It is the hope of the funding partners that answering these questions will ultimately
lead to increased confidence in proposed restoration project outcomes, clarification of optimal site
conditions most appropriate for particular restoration techniques, information useful to regulatory
agencies in project permitting, and information that will help guide monitoring programs.
“The health of Chesapeake Bay starts with the health of tributaries in our backyards,” said Mark
Belton, Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources. “The Restoration Research Grant Program
will provide us with more in-depth scientific data and real, measurable results to help confirm that
stream restoration efforts are reducing the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus that enter our waters.”
Through a unique partnership with several extensive brainstorming sessions, members of the
regulatory staff of key permitting agencies and restoration professionals from the private and public
sectors worked together to identify key restoration questions to focus this initial effort. To address key
issues that plagued progress, partners settled on topics that included effectiveness of certain project
types in certain site characteristics in accomplishing water quality and habitat goals, impacts of
different construction techniques, and the stability of specific project designs. A total of $825,000 was
available in funding for this grant program. Both not-for-profit entities (academic institutions, nonprofit organizations) and for-profit entities were eligible to apply.
“At the Chesapeake Bay Trust, we want to invest our resources in watershed restoration projects that
are going to have the most impact and best results in terms of improving water quality and habitat,”
said Jana Davis, executive director of the Chesapeake Bay Trust. “Through the Restoration Research
Grant Program, we are able to fund research efforts that will answer important questions focused on
the effectiveness of different stream restoration approaches and reduce costs.”
The projects funded through the 2015 Restoration Research Grant Program include:
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, $88,076
The project seeks to improve the application, design, and success of stream restoration structures.
Through a literature review of design recommendations and stability of instream structures as well as a
field-based hydraulics study of several types of instream structures and techniques, the amount of
movement of material will be assessed. The ultimate goal of this project is to have a better idea of what
happens from a physical perspective to certain types of instream structures used in restoration projects,
whether these structures are “stable” (stay in place) in certain site conditions, and therefore what the
best design guidance is for the use of these structures moving forward.
Straughan Environmental, Inc., $145,284
This study will quantify how sediment load, biological impairment, and riparian disturbance are related
to certain types of construction techniques, specifically, installing the restoration project while the
stream is still flowing in place (constructing “in the wet”) or pumping the stream around the area of
disturbance (construction “in the dry”). This question arises often during the permitting process and
can affect project timeline and cost. As a result of this study, information will become available to
indicate whether construction in the wet results more, less, or similar short-term impacts as
construction in the dry, which will assist project engineers and regulatory staff assessing future
projects.
Smithsonian Institution, $299,034
This project will measure the removal of nutrients and suspended sediments by Regenerative
Stormwater Conveyances (RSC) and relate removal efficiencies to impervious surface in the
watershed, and the rate and variability of water inflow. Researchers will use continuous monitoring
and automated sampling to measure performance under a range of flow conditions with contrasting
impervious cover. Groundwater studies at one RSC will also investigate sources of dissolved iron and
transfers of nutrients from surface to groundwater flow. As a result of this study, the restoration
community will have a better sense of the site conditions under which this particular restoration
practice may be most effective.
University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES), $292,606
This project focuses on how different restoration approaches, restoration age, and their landscape
context affect net ecological function, termed “ecological uplift,” and whether improving a short
section of stream can lead to net benefit downstream of the restoration site. Partners with this project
will quantify uplift at 40 restoration sites to begin to identify site conditions and restoration techniques
that lead to greatest restoration success. As a result of this study, the stream restoration community can
use these findings when deciding where best to invest in restoration projects that will maximize
benefits.
For more information on any of these specific grant awards, email Molly Alton Mullins at
mmullins@cbtrust.org. For more detailed information on the Restoration Research Grant Program,
visit www.cbtrust.org/restorationresearch.
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About the Chesapeake Bay Trust
The Chesapeake Bay Trust is a nonprofit, grant-making organization dedicated to improving the streams, rivers,
and other natural resources of the Chesapeake region through environmental education, community outreach,
and local watershed restoration. Since 1985, the Trust has awarded more than $70 million in grants and projects
that engage hundreds of thousands of dedicated individuals in efforts that are making a difference for all of
Maryland’s systems – Chesapeake, Coastal Bays, and Youghiogheny – and the broader Chesapeake watershed.
The Trust is supported by the sale of the Maryland Treasure the Chesapeake license plate, donations to the
Chesapeake Bay and Endangered Species Fund on the Maryland State income tax form, donations from
individuals and corporations, and partnerships with private foundations and federal and state agencies.