The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Nov. 13 that it is providing a grant of $52,417 to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP) to enhance water monitoring for improving the assessment of nutrient and sediment load reductions in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt said, “Clean water is a top priority for [the] EPA and President Trump. This funding will help West Virginia to better assess the effectiveness of practices being put in place to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution to local waters and the Chesapeake Bay.”

This grant will support West Virginia’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Non-Tidal Water Quality Monitoring Network that measures improvements to aquatic health of the Chesapeake Bay in terms of dissolved oxygen, water clarity and underwater grasses. Through this funding, WVDEP will be better able to calculate the loadings and trends of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment, and calibrate and validate Chesapeake Bay watershed models. WVDEP will then use the results of these analyses to measure the effects of their state Watershed Implementation Plan on nutrient and sediment pollution to the Bay and tidal tributaries.