Before and after photos show restoration work done by ShoreRivers at a headwaters tributary of Turners Creek in the Sassafras River watershed. One of several recently awarded grants will enable the organization to further efforts to stabilize eroding ravines, and add resiliency to the creek.
ShoreRivers is beginning 2023 on a high note after it was awarded several grants to fund innovative new projects as part of the organization’s ongoing work to protect and restore Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation
Funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation will allow ShoreRivers to strengthen its work with farmers and agricultural landowners in the new year. Agriculture is the single largest land use on the Eastern Shore and thus the largest contributor of nutrient and sediment pollution to its waterways. ShoreRivers is a leader in working collaboratively with farmers to solve problems of nutrient and sediment loss to waterways from agriculture.
Through one grant, ShoreRivers will convene the first cohort of Next Generation Land Stewards—people who are new or upcoming agricultural landowners—to share resources and expertise, and create a network of peer support. Since 92% of land in Maryland is privately owned, it is crucial that landowners are engaged in conservation in order to see significant improvements in the landscape’s ecological function and in the health of the rivers. ShoreRivers will help these rising stewards set conservation objectives concurrent with agronomic and profitability goals.
With funding from a second grant, ShoreRivers will work with farmers in western Delaware to restore wetlands impacting the upper Chester and Choptank watersheds. Wetlands are excellent tools for capturing and treating runoff for nutrients and sediment; providing resilience to flooding, climate change, and changes in storm intensity and frequency; and increasing habitat and biodiversity. They are key to the organization’s work with the agricultural community. This particular project will also focus on developing a strong working relationship between ShoreRivers and the natural resource agencies in Delaware.
Chesapeake Bay Trust
ShoreRivers is proud of its long-time partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Trust, which has generated nearly $2.7 million in grant funding in the past six years alone. These 53 grants have provided support for nearly every aspect of ShoreRivers’ work.
In 2023, three separate grants will fund stream restoration design for Eastern Shore waterways.
A restoration of Choptank river tributary Poor House Run, in Denton, MD, will be designed in conjunction with the Town of Denton. The design will not only address current stormwater runoff but will account for future land use and precipitation changes in an attempt to protect at-risk public and private property.
A two-phase ravine and stream valley restoration design will complement a previously installed wetland to address nutrient and sediment draining from heavily used farm fields into Woodland Creek at the headwaters of the Sassafras River.
The third project also builds on previous work in the Sassafras River watershed at a headwaters tributary of Turners Creek. Funding will further efforts to stabilize eroding ravines, add protection and resiliency to the creek, and protect existing water quality and habitat practices installed upstream.
A fourth grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust will allow ShoreRivers, a long-time participant in the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, to update outreach materials and increase knowledge within local communities about the environmental value of oysters and ongoing restoration efforts.
ShoreRivers looks forward to getting started on these new projects, which will help make its vision of healthy waterways across Maryland’s Eastern Shore more attainable, and is grateful to all the funders and supporters who help make them possible. To learn more, visit shorerivers.org.