EPA Deputy Administrator Fotouhi Announces Over $90 million for Restoration and Clean Water in Chesapeake Bay Watershed

EPA Deputy Administrator Fotouhi Announces Over $90 million for Restoration and Clean Water in Chesapeake Bay Watershed

October 2, 2026

SMITHFIELD, Va. - During an event at the Windsor Castle Park in Smithfield, Virginia, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Deputy Administrator David Fotouhi was joined by U.S. Representative Jen Kiggans (R-VA-02) and others to announce more than $90 million for the Chesapeake Bay watershed. EPA is awarding $37 million with an additional $53 million in funding coming from other agencies to implement 83 new projects that will support critical restoration and provide long-term water quality improvements.

"Through these grants, EPA is working collaboratively with our local partners to deliver practical restoration solutions that improve water quality, restore habitat, and support the vital Chesapeake Bay watershed. These improvements will have a significant impact of the more than 1,800 local communities that depend on the watershed to support their economies," said EPA Deputy Administrator Fotouhi. "This type of funding has a proven track record of delivering tangible environmental results and is a shining example of taxpayer dollars being put to accomplishing EPA's core mission."

"Preserving the health of the Chesapeake Bay is critical to the communities and native species who call Coastal Virginia home," said Representative Kiggans. "I'm grateful to the EPA, NFWF, and James River Association for supporting commonsense conservation efforts that protect our waterways and strengthen our coastal communities. I want to thank Deputy Administrator Fotouhi for joining us in Virginia's Second District to celebrate this investment, and I look forward to continuing to work with the Deputy Administrator and the EPA to advance practical solutions that preserve the Chesapeake Bay for generations to come."

The projects being supported today emphasize the Trump EPA's cooperative federalism approach to engaging local communities in the planning, design, and implementation of community-level clean water projects that will improve soil quality, install physical barriers, and restore habitats. Since 1999, EPA has partnered with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) to award over $800 million across more than 2,000 grants, resulting in the reduction of nitrogen pollution by more than 40 million pounds, the restoration of over 3,000 miles of streamside forests and 9,500 acres of wetlands, and the treatment of stormwater runoff from over 23,000 acres of impervious surfaces.

The Trump EPA is committed to safeguarding the Chesapeake Bay to both protect human health and the environment and grow the booming economies that come from it. Having clean and accessible water is essential to everyday life. This $90 million will benefit communities from farmers to homeowners, churches, businesses, and municipalities with improvements to local water quality that will also help restore the Chesapeake Bay. This investment bolsters the robust economies of the more than 1,800 communities that the Chesapeake Bay watershed supports and ensures that the families and nearly 18 million people living in the watershed continue to prosper.

Please see a complete list of the 2026 Small Watershed Grants (SWG) (pdf)Exit EPA's website recipients.

Please see a complete list of the 2026 Innovative Nutrient and Sediment Reduction (INSR) (pdf)Exit EPA's website recipients.

Background:

Today's grants were awarded through the SWG and INSR programs, a core part of the federal-state Chesapeake Bay ProgramExit EPA's website partnership administered under NFWF's Chesapeake Bay Stewardship FundExit EPA's website (CBSF). CBSF is a partnership between NFWF and EPA that provides grant funding, technical assistance, and networking and information sharing in support of local, on-the-ground conservation and restoration efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay and its tributary rivers and streams under the revised Chesapeake Bay Watershed AgreementExit EPA's website.