EPA awards $2.3 million to Maryland to control polluted runoff, restore water quality

The following press release was published by the US EPA on Oct. 5. It is reproduced in full below.

EPA awards $2.3 million to Maryland

EPA awards $2.3 million to Maryland to control polluted runoff, restore water quality

PHILADELPHIA (October 5, 2021) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a $2,272,200 grant today to the Maryland Department of Environment to improve water quality in rivers and streams throughout the state.

The grant is part of EPA's Nonpoint Source Implementation Grant Program, as outlined in Section 319 of the Clean Water Act, to control water pollution.

“With this funding, EPA supports the preservation and protection of Maryland’s water resources for communities throughout the state,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Acting Regional Administrator Diana Esher. “By working in partnership with Maryland, we can reduce nonpoint source pollution and help ensure that all Maryland residents have clean water.”

Nonpoint source pollution is caused when rainfall or snowmelt, moving over and through the ground, picks up and carries natural and human-made pollutants, depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and groundwater.

Controlling nonpoint source pollution is especially important since one in three Americans get their drinking water from public systems that rely on seasonal and rain-dependent streams.

The projects funded with this grant focus on watersheds with water quality impairments caused by polluted run-off from nonpoint sources. Nonpoint source implementation projects include structural and non-structural best management practices, watershed planning, monitoring, technology demonstrations, and a variety of education/outreach programs.

Learn more about successful nonpoint source reduction projects at: https://www.epa.gov/nps

###

Source: US EPA