This cooperative agreement provides funding through the bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) (also known as the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA)) for implementation of the EPA approved…

This Project Grant award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the National Estuary Program (CFDA 66.456) provides $910,200 in funding to the Partnership For The Delaware Estuary, Inc. to implement the organization's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan (CCMP) for the Delaware Estuary. The award will support a range of activities, including watershed enhancement, habitat restoration, capacity building, and other projects to improve water quality, ecological integrity, and community resilience in the Delaware Estuary region. Key deliverables include reducing nutrient pollution, preventing wetland loss, enhancing fish and shellfish habitats, and improving environmental literacy and stewardship. The award period runs from April 1, 2024 to September 1, 2028. The Partnership For The Delaware Estuary will serve as the primary awardee and may further sub-grant portions of the funding to support specialized activities such as estuary eutrophication modeling and the development of a mussel hatchery.

This cooperative agreement provides funding through the bipartisan infrastructure law (BIL) (also known as the infrastructure investment and jobs act (IIJA)) for implementation of the EPA approved delaware estuary program comprehensive conservation and management plan (ccmp) under section 320 of the clean water act (CWA), which will help restore and maintain the water quality and ecological integrity of the delaware inland bays. This project oversees the implementation of projects outlined under partnership for the the delaware estuary's workplan, through which the federal funds and outlined activities implement the national estuary program's (NEP) ccmp. The purpose of this award is to support the implementation of the delaware estuary program ccmp.activities:the activities to be performed include watershed enhancement activities, habitat restoration, internal capacity building, and more to implement the comprehensive conservation and management plan. Specifically, the program will enhance the estuary eutrophication model, begin construction on the mussel hatchery, work on native pollinator gardens and rain gardens, and more. Work will begin on the wilmington park greening initiative, on continued planning and development of the 2025 delaware estuary science and environmental summit, myriad education initiatives and additional activities that support the bipartisan infrastructure law funding administration.subrecipient:develop a model to estimate the water quality benefits of delaware river basin freshwater and saltwater bivalves by integrating physiological, population, and water quality datasets at locations with natural, restored and enhanced shellfish assemblages, current eutrophication modeling efforts, relating to the drbc's evaluation of aquatic life uses and dissolved oxygen criteria, suggest that sediments play an important role in the urban estuary in terms of dissolved oxygen dynamics. This proposed work is not directly related to the regulatory efforts currently underway pursuant to resolution 2017-04, which treats sediment oxygen demand (SOD) as a static temperature-dependent demand and will assign waste-load allocations accordingly. However, modeling sediment diagenesis explicitly will expand our understanding of the additional nutrient sources that support SOD and the prospect for its reduction over time. Continuity of long-term monitoring of living shoreline project on nantuxent creek, based on 8 years of mussel rearing data, water from green lane reservoir supports consistent, exceptional mussel growth and survival. PDE aims to repurpose and retrofit a water treatment settling tank located on the reservoir shoreline as a mussel rearing center, one of several being contemplated in DE and PA. The main cost will be to purchase and install a water intake pipe and pump system to deliver water from the reservoir to the tank system. Outcomes:anticipated deliverables related to this award include reducing nutrient pollution and its impacts, reducing other pollutants and their impacts, increased community resilience and access, improved public awareness and stakeholder engagement, preventing wetland loss, stemming forest loss, and, increased and improved fish and shellfish habitat. This will include the installation of natural shoreline to eroded areas, the improvement of stormwater infrastructure in underserved areas, the design of various habitat and community improvement projects, and the development of new and standing environmental education and community grant programs. Outcomes from this award include improved environmental literacy and growth in environmental stewardship in the watershed, increased community stewardship and behavior change around environmental issues, and the preservation/enhancement of water quality, critical habitat and coastal resilience resources. Intended beneficiaries of this award include the citizens of the local watershed, visitors to the delaware estuary, industrie