EPA awards $1.1M for data project supporting Chesapeake Bay restoration

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded $1.1 million to Maryland’s Chesapeake Conservancy to update and improve key environmental data.
The effort will provide data showing the environmental impacts of land use to help Chesapeake Bay restoration efforts, according to the Annapolis-based Chesapeake Conservancy.
“This project will give states, counties and local jurisdictions critical information on how the landscape is changing over time and how these changes impact progress towards achieving restoration of local waters and the Chesapeake Bay,” EPA Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio said in a statement.  “It will also provide more accurate information about how water moves through the landscape which will help the partners plan restoration efforts.”
The Conservancy will provide state and local governments with data on the Chesapeake Bay watershed including detailed information on streams and headwaters locations. It will also provide project tracking and reporting tools and mapping support to help integrate geospatial data.
Partners also include UMBC, the University of Vermont Spatial Analysis Laboratory, Drexel University Academy of Natural Sciences and Chesapeake Commons.
The Conservation Innovation Center team added two new staff members in October, and will look to continue growing.
“We are likely going to grow our team throughout 2019 as the CIC’s approach is gaining momentum in other watersheds across the country that are facing similar challenges, and see our approach in the Chesapeake as a model for data-driven environmental management,” Director of Communications Jody Couser said.