This agreement provides funding to maryland department of the environment (MDE) to fund as project that will focus on improving construction of shore erosion control practices with a focus on living…

This federal Cooperative Agreement award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Regional Wetland Program Development Grants (CFDA 66.461) program provides $599,060 in funding to the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for a project focused on improving shoreline erosion control practices with a focus on living shorelines. The key products and services to be delivered include:

1. Revisions to the state's shoreline management planning and living shoreline design manual, including a literature summary on shoreline management planning, design, assessment, monitoring, and maintenance.

2. Creation of a benefits calculator to quantify nutrient/sediment reduction, living shoreline designs, and wave climate data for selected Maryland counties.

3. Development of outreach and educational materials on living shoreline and shoreline management best practices.

The project aims to reduce wetland loss and improve management of regulated activities in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities across Maryland. The award includes a sub-agreement with the Virginia Institute of Marine Science (VIMS) to support the development of the shoreline guidance document and predictive tool.

This agreement provides funding to maryland department of the environment (MDE) to fund as project that will focus on improving construction of shore erosion control practices with a focus on living shorelines, identification of disadvantaged or vulnerable communities in relation to wetland and water resources, prediction of the effects of climate change on resources and their benefits to disadvantaged or vulnerable communities, and testing of products in selected communities. The outcomes will be reduced loss of wetland acreage and function from enhanced identification and management during review of proposed regulated activities in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. This project will update design guidance for all types of erosion control practices, including living shorelines, with an additional focus on practice sustainability and climate change. The proposed strategies will be consistent with the objectives of maryland's chesapeake and coastal bays critical area protection program which encourages the use of non-structural shore protection measures in order to conserve and protect plant, fish and wildlife habitat. Activities:predictive tools will be developed for nutrient, sediment, and wave reduction based on project dimensions, which will be useful toward sustaining tidal wetland resources and their ability to provide water quality benefits and infrastructure protection. MDE will use the output from the maryland shoreline stabilization mapper (mssm) to model potential living shoreline projects by converting linear model output to two-dimensional area. To meet sediment and nutrient (nitrogen, phosphorus) reduction loads under the chesapeake BAY total maximum daily load (tmdl) (table 1), MDE will quantify the potential tmdl credits based on the implementation of living shoreline treatments wherever possible. In other words, MDE will apply chesapeake BAY programs' (CBP) nutrient reduction criteria to calculate the tmdl credits that these best management practices (bmps) could bring if living shorelines were constructed. Predictor tools and a benefits calculator will model reductions in nutrients, sediment, and wave energy to further document benefits of living shorelines.subrecipient:subaward with virginia institute of marine science (vims) for the shoreline guidance document and predictor tool. Outcomes:expected outputs from the project are as follows: (1) revisions to shoreline management planning and living shoreline design manual including summary document of literature on shoreline management planning, design, assessment, monitoring, and maintenance; (2) creation of a benefits calculator including protocols to quantify nutrient/sediment reduction, living shoreline designs, wave climate data for selected counties; and (3) outreach and educational materials. The outcomes will be reduced loss of wetland acreage and function from enhanced identification and management during review of proposed regulated activities in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities. Primary beneficiaries include residents of anne arundel, calvert, dorchester, and talbot counties in maryland.