Maryland officials outline funding shifts for Chesapeake Bay restoration, roll out Whole Watershed grants and LEAF farmer program

State officials told the Transportation and Environment Subcommittee on Feb. 3 that Maryland has made measureable progress toward Chesapeake Bay restoration but faces shifting funding needs as the state moves past the 2025 agreement and targets new “whole watershed” projects.

The Department of Natural Resources and other agencies described a funding shift from failing wastewater plants to agricultural sources after recent repairs to Back River and Patapsco plants reduced wastewater nutrient loads. Andrew Gray, the Department of Legislative Services analyst, told the panel that Maryland’s portion of restoration funding appears to decline about $83 million between fiscal 2025 working appropriations and the fiscal 2026 allowance, “primarily due to purple line activities in the Maryland Department of Transportation,” and that the state has moved some administrative costs onto trust fund balances.

DLS and agency witnesses said the state will use multiple funding streams — including the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays 2010 Trust Fund, the Bay Restoration Fund and the waterway improvement fund — to seed a Whole Watershed Act pilot that will direct about $5 million from the 2010 trust fund plus $5 million from the Bay Restoration Fund and $1.5 million from the waterway improvement fund to five watershed projects statewide. Suzanne Dorsey, Deputy Secretary at the Maryland Department of the Environment, said the program is structured to “hand‑hold for five years to make sure we get the work done” and that the administration…