Newport Bay and Sinepuxent Bay
Worcester County, Maryland is receiving Federal grant funding to prepare a Watershed
Restoration Action Strategy (WRAS) for the Newport Bay and Sinepuxent Bay Watersheds.
These watersheds are in the central portion of the Maryland Coastal Bays drainage area. The
WRAS project area encompasses about 46,204 acres including about 11,471 acres of open water.
The purpose of the WRAS project is for Worcester County and various stakeholders to
determine local priorities for protection and restoration of water quality and habitat.
As part of the WRAS project, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is
providing technical assistance, including preparation of a watershed characterization (compilation
of available water quality and natural resources information and identification of issues), a stream
corridor assessment (uses field inspection data to catalog issues and rate problem severity) and a
synoptic survey (analyzes benthic macroinvertebrates, fish and water samples with focus on
nutrients). The County will use this information to help generate the Watershed Restoration
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Updated on December 11, 2003