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).