This cooperative agreement is provided to university of southern maine through the university of maine system to support implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) through the casco BAY…

This cooperative agreement is provided to university of southern maine through the university of maine system to support implementation of the bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) through the casco BAY estuary partnership (CBEP) casco BAY plan, i.e., their comprehensive conservation and management plan (CCMP). The goal is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the estuary and support its sustainable human uses through tasks outlined in this bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) workplan of the CBEP and its partners. CBEP has designed eight programs that provide structure for the five-to-seven-year spending plan for BIL funding. The eight programs address long-standing and emerging needs for management of casco BAY as identified by CBEP, with the advice of partners and members of the management committee. These programs support habitat restoration, resilience and conservation; enhance monitoring and science to guide future management; and assist communities addressing climate resilience and water needs.activities:the projects included will support activities that address the key challenges facing the estuary including assessing trends in water quality, habitats, natural resources and uses; coordinating implementation of the CCMP by the NEP, along with the state, federal, local agencies, stakeholders, ngos, citizens, partners, and others; and monitoring the effectiveness of activities conducted under the management conference approved CCMP and annual workplan. Specific planned activities include: continue the habitat protection fund to support habitat protection projects; support ongoing discussion in the town of yarmouth about removing two town-owned dams on the royal river and develop plans for addressing fish passage; conduct formal feasibility studies regarding the removal of the stroudwater DAM and advance efforts to address aquatic organism passage and water quality challenges; continue efforts to enhance the resilience of tidal wetlands to sea level rise and implement 'smarteams' approaches to addressing historic impacts to marsh surface hydrology; continue grant programs and increase CBEP capacity to assist with on-the-ground projects that support habitat restoration and ecosystem resilience goals; convene steering committee to prioritize ongoing work, including additional casco BAY models, and to develop new tools to make model output more accessible to non-specialists; study location and condition of septic tanks and other onsite wastewater treatment systems to better understand their impact on water quality, especially in lakes and on island and peninsula communities; select priority watersheds for development of 'nine element' or simplified plans and initiate development of at least one priority watershed plan; hire an additional CBEP staff member to increase capacity to build new relationships with community groups, especially groups with connections to underserved and underrepresented communities in the casco BAY region; fund work by members of the sebago clean waters coalition to engage middle and upper watershed municipalities with open space planning, aquatic organism passage improvement, and development site review; continue BIL-funded community grant program; continue grant programs and assist with municipal planning and on-the-ground projects that support community resilience; continue grant programs to strengthen monitoring of casco BAY support through establishment of new monitoring programs, expansion of monitoring capabilities, strengthening regional monitoring resources, or purchasing equipment. Subrecipient:habitat protection grants, recipients currently unknown various projects that increase monitoring infrastructure, habitat resilience, and/or community resilience, recipients currently unknown marsh surface hydrology restoration efforts, recipients currently unknown feasibility studies regarding the removal of stroudwater DAM, L