Virginia Wetlands Projects Receive $287K from EPA

PHILADELPHIA – The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced two grants totaling $287,250 to enhance Virginia’s wetlands program.

“Wetlands are an important component of Virginia’s environment which contribute greatly to the state’s ability to protect water quality and natural resources,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “This award is a great example of the effective partnership between federal and local agencies to protect and restore Virginia’s wetlands.”

One grant for $151,531 goes to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality to support its online GIS-based wetland data viewer Wetlands Condition Assessment Tool (WetCAT) that can be used by the agency and the general public to identify wetlands and areas suited for wetlands mitigation or restoration. Virginia's nontidal wetlands program aims to ensure that there is no net loss of wetland acreage or function in the State. The information and data derived from WetCAT can be used to evaluate the impacts of proposed projects, the performance of wetland restoration and mitigation, and the cumulative impacts of wetland loss and restoration in watersheds. It can also be used to report ambient wetland conditions in Virginia's Clean Water Act (CWA) Integrated 305(b)/303(d) report. More information on Virginia's wetlands projects and a link to WetCAT can be found at www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/WetlandsStreams/MonitoringAssessmentStrategy.aspx. 

The second grant for $135,719 goes to the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMS) for a project entitled, “Strategy Development to Enhance the Conservation and Adaptation of Virginia Coastal Wetlands under Climate Change.” This project includes public outreach, accessing bird habitats, and identifying marsh areas impacted by sea-level rise. More information about VIMS can be found at www.vims.edu. 

The funds were provided through EPA’s Wetland Program Development Grant program, which enables state, local, and tribal governments to conduct a range of projects that promote research and pollution reduction efforts related to wetlands.

For more information on the EPA program, visit EPA's website.