To promote a healthy environment
The grant program is designed to fund projects aimed at reducing or eliminating nonpoint source pollution within targeted watersheds, leading to the restoration of streams and their removal from West Virginia's 303(d) list of waters not meeting quality standards. These watershed project grants support the development and implementation of watershed-based plans, incorporating efforts to address pollution from diffuse sources primarily induced by human activity. The initiative emphasizes collaboration with local stakeholders, including leveraging partnerships, monitoring, and securing necessary funding, to design projects that align with established watershed strategies or Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs) frameworks. These projects aim not only to restore impaired watersheds but also to protect high-quality waters that are under threat, with the ultimate goals of ensuring the short and long-term health of these watersheds. The § 319 grants emerge as a significant funding source for these projects at the state level, facilitating the implementation of the watershed plans once they are approved by the EPA.