EPA Awards $2.6M to Protect Wetlands

EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin announced yesterday at an event in Dover, Delaware, that EPA has awarded a total of $2.6 million in Wetland Program Development Grants to six recipients in EPA’s Mid-Atlantic region.

The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environment Control (DNREC), one of the recipients, was awarded $443,233 that will help the state prepare for changing coastal conditions as well as managing wetland resources statewide.

“Wetlands are one of our nation’s most unique ecosystems and they play a significant role in protecting our nation’s water supply,” said EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin. “By committing to protect and restore these valuable resources, DNREC is in the forefront of keeping our lakes, rivers and streams clean.”

Among its goals, Delaware plans to develop a wetlands condition report for the Smyrna River watershed; assess the response of wetlands to sea level rise, climate change and land use changes in the entire Delaware Estuary; and assess the condition of tidal and nontidal wetlands in the C&D Canal-Red Lion Creek Watershed.

Grant recipients also included the Maryland Department of Environment ($37,500), the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources ($400,000), Pennsylvania State University ($668,764), the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences ($392,773) and the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources ($700,000).