MARYLAND - The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has announced they will provide $20 million in Waterway Improvement Fund grants to various communities and projects across Maryland this year. These funds will be used to support projects like improved public boating access facilities, public waterway dredging, equipment and emergency vessels for first responders, and more.
According to DNR, the grant money is primarily funded by the one-time 5% excise tax when a boat is purchased and titled in Maryland, plus a small portion of the state gas tax.
Several Eastern Shore projects were selected to receive funds this year. By county, they are:
Caroline County
- Replacement of bulkhead at Crouse Park: $225,000
- Greensboro boating facility and parking/access road improvements: $75,000
Dorchester County
- Cambridge Municipal Marina wave attenuator: $250,000
- Cambridge Municipal Marina replacement of timber decking: $250,000
Queen Anne’s County
- Phase 2 dredging of Queenstown Creek channel and beneficial use of material: $1.5 million
- Evaluation and engineering for Kent Narrows jetty: $75,000
- United Communities Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department vessel and equipment: $80,000
- Kent Island Volunteer Fire Department Rescue Vessel and equipment: $80,000
Somerset County
- Somers Cove Marina bulkhead replacement and facility improvements: $4.5 million
- Reconstruction of Somerset County dock in Ewell: $350,000
- Shoreline protection for the navigable channel at Ewell Basin: $50,000
- Renovation of public boating infrastructure at Ewell Basin: $75,000
- Construction of a stone breakwater to protect the Tylerton Harbor: $400,000
Talbot County
- Channel dredging at Clairborne Landing: $50,000
- Replacement of the bulkhead and boating structures at Tilghman Street in Oxford: $250,000
- St. Michaels West Harbor Road and Chew Avenue public marina improvements: $150,000
- Boating facility improvements on Tilghman Creek: $75,000
Wicomico County
- Leonards Mill Park boat ramp replacement and improvements: $250,000
- Nanticoke Harbor boat ramp replacement: $75,000
- Cedar Hill Boat Ramp Reconstruction in Bivalve : $250,000
Worcester County
- George Island Landing boating facility improvements: $250,000
- Pocomoke State Park Shad Landing Marina improvements: $1 million
Maryland DNR has also allocated a portion of the funds for statewide projects benefitting all waterway users. Those projects are:
- Clean Vessel Act – Pumpout Program Equipment: $213,785
- DNR vessel for surveying, monitoring, buoy maintenance and deployment, and storm response: $400,000
- Matching funds required for statewide federal boating grant program: $300,000
- Statewide emergency and maintenance dredging needs: $1.66 million
- Design and construction of eligible shore erosion control projects: $500,000
According to Maryland DNR, the Waterway Improvement Fund has financed the construction and maintenance of more than 400 public boating facilities and 250 navigational channels across the state.