Passage of Clean Water for Delaware Act, Clean Water Initiative
for Underserved Communities are Reasons for Celebration

As the calendar turns to August, Delaware recognizes National Water Quality Month on a tide of momentum from Governor Carney’s signing of the Clean Water for Delaware Act, hailed as landmark legislation for reviving many of the state’s waterways and ensuring all Delawareans have access to clean water.

The act is buoyed by a new $50 million Clean Water Trust to fund drinking and wastewater projects across the state, and supports the Clean Water Initiative for Underserved Communities that will enable the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control through its environmental justice mission to work toward achieving clean water for all Delawareans.

DNREC will also celebrate the completion of the Lewes Canal project, a joint effort to enhance an existing living shoreline. A method of shoreline stabilization and protection for wetlands, living shorelines absorb storm energy and protect property while reducing the potential for shoreline erosion issues. They also improve water quality by removing nitrogen that can cause algae blooms that are detrimental both to human health and aquatic life.

In addition, DNREC launched an interactive, online quiz about water quality. Anyone can test how attuned they are to the critical role water has in every aspect of human life – including the importance of drinking water and the proper treatment of wastewater. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which initiated National Water Quality Month in 2005 – linked to the passage three decades earlier of the Clean Water Act and the Safe Drinking Water Act – offers water education resources that include a drinking water activities website for students and teachers.

Water Quality Month provides the opportunity to learn just how precious water is for survival, and how much we should value it for sustaining human life – with only about 3% of the world’s water being freshwater, and just 1% of that freshwater potable or drinkable.

DNREC wants the public to know that everyone can help the state achieve the water quality standard for clean water and safe drinking water that all Delawareans deserve. The DNREC Division of Water section recommends taking the following actions to help improve the state’s water quality:

• Properly store, use and dispose of chemicals and hazardous liquids (thus keeping them out of the water supply)
• Properly maintain your septic system
• Properly dispose of your outdated medications at a take-back event
• Test your soil to determine if fertilizers are needed
• Reduce use of lawn fertilizers and herbicides and pesticides, especially when rainstorms are imminent, and consider fertilizing with an alternative such as compost or compost tea
• Volunteer for a community or statewide cleanup
• Use rain barrels to collect rainfall for watering your lawn and garden
• Start a rain garden that will thrive with little need of watering
• Wash your car at commercial car wash locations where wash water is collected for proper disposal

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The DNREC Division of Water manages and protects Delaware’s water resources. For more information, visit the website and connect with @DelawareDNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media contact: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov or Nikki Lavoie, nikki.lavoie@delaware.gov

Floating wetlands at Trap Pond State Park that improve Delaware water quality were funded by a Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant.

Another Delaware water quality improvement grant opportunity is coming from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control – the Chesapeake Bay Implementation Funding Grant for best management practices (BMPs) water quality improvement projects within the state’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. With $350,000 available in grant funding for fiscal year 2021, the DNREC Division of Watershed Stewardship is soliciting project proposals from state agencies, county and municipal governments, conservation districts, community organizations, homeowners associations and non-profit organizations.

The Implementation Funding Grant is an annually-determined set-aside within the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant. Funding is intended for use by Delaware entities within the Chesapeake Bay watershed for BMP implementation projects that will improve water quality by reducing nutrient and sediment loads. DNREC’s Delaware’s Chesapeake Bay Implementation Grant Program administers the competitive grant process, providing technical and financial guidance during the grant application and project period.

DNREC will consider grant requests of up to $200,000, with a one-to-one non-federal match requirement. Up to 10% of the grant funds may be used for administrative costs. Proposals for the Chesapeake Bay Implementation Funding Grant must be received by DNREC no later than 4:30 p.m. Feb. 17, 2021.

Previous Chesapeake Bay implementation grant awards for local entities utilizing BMPs on water quality projects include:

•   The town of Laurel and the city of Seaford to locate and map their stormwater infrastructure in preparation for a MS4 stormwater management permit;
•  The town of Laurel for the installation of wetlands and a bioswale (vegetated trench system for capturing stormwater runoff); and
•   The Kent Conservation District and the Sussex Conservation District to install agricultural BMPs within targeted sub-watersheds.

Grant guidelines and application instructions can be found on DNREC’s website at de.gov/cbig. Proposals must be submitted by email to NPS.Grants@delaware.gov and must be no larger than 10 megabytes (MB) in size.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The Division of Watershed Stewardship develops and implements innovative watershed assessment, monitoring and implementation activities. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov; Joanna Wilson, joanna.wilson@delaware.gov

Delaware non-profit organizations, conservation districts, community organizations and homeowner’s associations are eligible to submit project proposals to be considered for matching grant funds from DNREC’s Community Water Quality Improvement Grants program. Proposals must be received by 4:30 p.m. Nov. 4.

The grant program assists in implementing projects or programs to improve water quality on developed lands with specific watershed improvement plans and strategies. Eligible projects may include:

• Enhancement or restoration of water quality within an impaired watershed
• Community stormwater management improvements in existing developments in partnership with municipalities
• Non‐regulatory or voluntary plans involving pollution control strategies, watershed-based restoration plans, whole basin management preliminary assessments, or community‐based stormwater permits.

Programs and projects selected must demonstrate innovative and sustainable methods, techniques, and/or practices for water quality improvements, with cost effective and measurable results. Projects will be recommended for funding by the Delaware Water Infrastructure Advisory Council through a competitive grant process.

Past projects that received funding included: a green roof installation; exploring use of freshwater mussels in stormwater management ponds; a stormwater retrofit project featuring a wetland and bioswale to manage stormwater runoff from impervious surfaces; and floating wetlands in dead end canals to improve water quality.

Funding for projects receiving a grant award in this cycle is expected to range from $25,000 to $75,000. The grant requires a 25% cash match, which may be federal, state or local cash. Applicants may submit up to two project proposals per grant cycle.

Proposals should be submitted to the Division of Watershed Stewardship by email to NPS.grants@delaware.gov, subject line: Community Water Quality Improvement Grant. Proposals submitted by email must be less than 10MB. Project guidelines and the application is available at the DNREC Environmental Finance webpage.

About DNREC
The Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control protects and manages the state’s natural resources, protects public health, provides outdoor recreational opportunities and educates Delawareans about the environment. The Division of Watershed Stewardship develops and implements innovative watershed assessment, monitoring and implementation activities. For more information, visit the website and connect with DNREC on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Media Contacts: Michael Globetti, michael.globetti@delaware.gov, or Joanna Wilson, joanna.wilson@delaware.gov

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DOVER – DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship is now accepting project proposals for matching grants for community water quality improvement projects. Delaware non-profit organizations, conservation districts, community organizations and homeowner’s associations are eligible to apply. Proposals must be received by 4:30 p.m. March 18.

Community Water Quality Improvement Grants assist in implementing projects or programs to improve water quality on developed lands with specific watershed improvement plans and strategies. Programs and projects selected must demonstrate innovative and sustainable methods, techniques, and/or practices for water quality improvements, with cost effective and measurable results. Projects will be recommended for funding by the Delaware Water Infrastructure Advisory Council through a competitive grant process.

Funding for projects receiving a grant award in this cycle is expected to range from $25,000 to $75,000. The grant requires a 25 percent cash match, which may be federal, state, or local cash. Applicants may submit up to two project proposals per grant cycle.

Proposals should be submitted by email to NPS.grants@delaware.gov, subject line: Community Water Quality Improvement Grant. Proposals submitted by email must be less than 10MB. Project guidelines and the application can be found on DNREC’s website on the Environmental Finance webpage.

For more information, please contact Sharon Webb at 302-739-9922.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

DOVER – The Source Water Assessment Plan (SWAP) Subcommittee of the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program will meet from 10 a.m. to noon, Thursday, Feb. 20, in the Training Room of Tidewater Utilities located at 1100 South Little Creek Road, Dover, DE 19901.

The SWAP Subcommittee’s meeting agenda can be found on the Delaware Public Meeting Calendar at https://publicmeetings.delaware.gov/Meeting/65028.

For more information about the Source Water Assessment and Protection Program, please visit http://delawaresourcewater.org, or contact Hydrologist Douglas Rambo, DNREC Division of Water, at 302-739-9945.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

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