By Brian Shane

Staff Writer

The Maryland Coastal Bays Program will receive at least $2 million in state funding in the coming fiscal year as part of a five-year grant toward restoration the Newport Bay watershed, state environmental officials said.

But in light of the state’s dire budget shortfall and legislative recommendations to slash Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) funding, it’s an open question whether the Berlin-based nonprofit will ever see the other $14.8 million they requested in their Whole Watershed Fund grant proposal.

Kevin Smith, executive director of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program (MCBP), said he’s happy to have been selected for the funding, and will meet with a state oversight team in the next few weeks to home in on proposed restoration projects. Those include stream restoration and stormwater management efforts in Berlin, as well as water quality monitoring and marsh restoration projects in Newport Bay.

Smith stressed the funding opportunity means being able to bolster the health of the coastal bays, where marsh habitat is degrading and transitioning to open water, and maintaining clean water for residents and tourists alike.

“I like to think that we all benefit economically. I think fish and wildlife benefit. As a community, having healthy ecosystems is one of those things that is really important. A lot of our resources over the years have degraded to a degree; Newport Bay is one of those areas where that’s happened. Hopefully, this is a really big step into turning that around. There’s no loser here,” Smith said.

When DNR started soliciting for grant proposals last summer, Smith and MCBP worked on a proposal with officials in Worcester County, the Town of Berlin, the Lower Shore Land Trust and Assateague Coastal Trust.

He said their focus fell to Newport Bay for two reasons: it had been one of the worst-performing watersheds in terms of water quality, and because MCBP had already begun working on this watershed for the Town of Berlin. This grant, if approved, would supplement their work.

Newport Bay sits to the west of Sinepuxent Bay and is separated from that body of water by an isthmus known as Sinepuxent Neck.

The Coastal Bays proposal sought $16.8 million in funding – a massive amount of money for an environmental grant.

“It’s the first time that I’m aware here in the coastal bays where we’ve been able to take a significant amount of money like this,” Smith said, “and really direct it toward one watershed that needs our help, to turn this decline around. And so, it’s a great opportunity. We’re really pleased that the folks at DNR accepted our proposal and are funding it.”

State lawmakers last year established the Whole Watershed Fund when they passed the Whole Watershed Act. The fund isn’t a single source of money, but is pooled from existing state environmental funds, according to DNR.

From nine applicants, DNR selected five program sponsors to receive funding: Catoctin Land Trust for Antietam Creek; South Baltimore Gateway Partnership for the Baltimore Harbor; MCBP for Newport Bay; Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County for the Severn River; and ShoreRivers for the Upper Choptank River.

For grant recipients, half their award would be come from the state’s Whole Watershed Fund, with the rest matched by other state, local, and private sources, according to DNR.

Each of the winners will get five years of technical and financial assistance to design and implement conservation and pollution reduction projects. Program sponsors also must hold four public meetings a year and provide an opportunity for public comment on the preliminary design of each large-scale action proposed, DNR also said.

MCBP and the other four grant recipients will receive $2 million in fiscal year 2026, beginning July 1. However, funding for subsequent years is still a matter to be worked out, as the state’s oversight team selects projects to fund and works with recipients to secure leveraged funding, according to DNR spokesman Gregg Bortz. That team will hold six meetings a year with each watershed sponsor and participating local governments to review progress.

As the state continues to deal with what some estimate to be a more than $3 billion budget shortfall, Gov. Wes Moore’s fiscal 2026 budget proposed 25% cuts to environmental agencies – and from there, the state’s Department of Legislative Service took it further, recommending cuts be doubled and existing programs have their budgets zeroed out, according to Valerie Keefer, spokeswoman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

For MCBP, when it comes to possible funding after the first year, “we have no information at this time on that,” Smith said in an email. “I’m taking an optimistic view. I know that the state budget issue may affect future years, but I also know that DNR and others are committed to the Whole Watershed initiative and that they will be working to identify funding for future years. They’re committed to making this work and so are we.”

For the Coastal Bay Program, winning the grant closes the door on what proved to be an uncomfortable part of the process – when Smith came before the Worcester County Board of Commissioners last November to ask for a letter of support.

Instead, Smith was scolded not only for Coastal Bays’ neutral position on wind energy, but for the organization’s acceptance of $125,000 in donations over a three-year period from US Wind, the developer planning to build a 114- turbine wind farm off the coast of Ocean City.

Smith countered that the donations from US Wind came over a three-year period with “no strings attached” and helped the Maryland Coastal Bays Program successfully fund habitat conservation for threatened bird species. He also said MCBP took up a neutral stance on the wind project because MCBP is not an advocacy organization.

However, by January, the county commissioners showed a change of heart and promised to support the grant request with a letter of support. Smith also shared that his group’s position on wind hadn’t change, but they did change their internal rules so that any donation over $10,000 would need approval from the board of directors.

Smith said he’s pleased that the county found a way to work with Coastal Bays, adding their shared 25-year history of collaboration.

“This just gives us an opportunity to do more, and really do it in a way that’s targeted and tightly focused on a particular watershed,” he said of the grant. “There’s going to be opportunities that are going to allow now only the county and us, but also the Town of Berlin and other partners to really work together to achieve some really good things we can get accomplished over the next five years.”