More Than $640,000 Awarded to County Environmental Projects 

More than $640,000 in grant funding has been awarded to 15 environmental projects in Montgomery County, officials announced Sunday.

“Great start to #EarthWeek!” County Executive Marc Elrich wrote on Twitter.

“These awards provide funds directly to Montgomery County organizations and communities for projects that will help clean our air and water,” County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Director Adam Ortiz said in a release. The projects are part of the county’s Watershed Restoration and Outreach Grant Program, which “funds public outreach and stewardship projects, community-based restoration water quality implementation projects and litter reduction projects in the Anacostia River Watershed,” according to the county.

Funding was possible through the county’s Water Quality Protection Charge, the county said. The Chesapeake Bay Trust administers the grants for the county.

The 2021 grant program awardees are:

• Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay: $90,000. For green infrastructure practices and a watershed outreach project.
• Anacostia Riverkeeper: $30,242. For Sligo Creek water quality monitoring.
• Anacostia Riverkeeper: $50,000. For trash trap maintenance and monitoring.
• Anacostia Riverkeeper: $62,000. For green infrastructure practices at two sites in the Anacostia Watershed.
• Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Inc.: $20,836. For a watershed stewardship engagement project for Latino/Latina/Latinx communities.
• Audubon Naturalist Society of the Central Atlantic States, Inc.: $29,983. For a conservation landscape training program for Latino, Latina and Latinx residents.
• Bannockburn Community Club. $50,000. For an impervious surface removal and green infrastructure project in Bethesda.
• Casey Trees: $75,000. For a street tree project that will plant 240 trees.
• Friends of Sligo Creek: $60,061. For green infrastructure practices at the Carolyn Condominium in Silver Spring.
• Interfaith Partners for the Chesapeake (IPC). $9,571. For a virtual watershed restoration training program.
• Little Falls Watershed Alliance: $30,000. For an innovative water quality monitoring project using autonomous environmental robots.
• Little Falls Watershed Alliance: $32,635. For a permeable paver project in the Overlook Community in Bethesda.
• National Wildlife Federation: $49,953. For a native plant outreach project for the faith-based community.
• Potomac Riverkeeper Network: $29,998. For delivery of a watershed stewardship and pollution awareness campaign.
• University of Maryland System Foundation: $20,000. For a green infrastructure design plan for the Glenwood Recreation Club in Silver Spring.

Had a wonderful Sunday with @baytrust and @MyGreenMC at Christ the Servant Lutheran Church in Gaithersburg to announce $640K in grants toward 15 sustainable @MontgomeryCoMD projects. Great start to #EarthWeek! pic.twitter.com/fMjudK5B8J

— County Exec Marc Elrich (@MontCoExec) April 19, 2021

About Maryam Shahzad

Maryam is a reporter with Montgomery Community Media. She graduated from the University of Maryland in 2019 with a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. Previously, she was an intern with MCM. She can be reached at mshahzad@mymcmedia.org or on Twitter @maryam_mcm.

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