Posted on December 17, 2025
Annapolis, MD – Anne Arundel County and the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County announced today that they have been awarded a $1,007,500 National Coastal Resilience Fund grant, leveraging $2,916,000 in matching funds, to complete final designs for three restoration sites that will use Regional Sediment Management (RSM) to rebuild and protect coastal marshes. This investment will restore critical habitat, strengthen natural flood protection, and demonstrate a replicable model for managing sediment as a community asset rather than a waste product.
The project will deliver final, shovel-ready designs for three marsh restoration sites that will use locally sourced dredged material to rebuild degraded tidal wetlands. These marshes serve as essential natural defenses for coastal communities—reducing wave energy, buffering storm surge, supporting fisheries and wildlife, and helping stabilize vulnerable shorelines. As sea level rise accelerates marsh loss across the Chesapeake Bay, this effort will help protect residents, infrastructure, and ecologically vital landscapes.
“Anne Arundel County is facing challenges that require both urgency and innovation, and the Resilience Authority gives us another essential tool in the toolbox to meet this moment,” said County Executive Steuart Pittman. “By pairing local expertise with outside investment, the Authority enables us to advance projects that restore critical ecosystems, protect infrastructure, reduce flooding, and strengthen the long-term resilience of communities across the county.”
A major focus of the project is increasing the resilience of the South County shoreline by restoring damaged marshes and barrier islands using clean dredged material. The work will restore and enhance five degraded marshlands, creating natural buffers that protect homes, businesses, and public infrastructure from storms and erosion. Using dredged material for restoration—rather than relying on traditional upland disposal—offers a more affordable, environmentally responsible alternative that reduces pressure on state and local dredging programs.
“I am thrilled the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County has successfully been awarded a grant for Regional Sediment Management to invest in South County. Coastal communities in South County are losing land every year and we cannot afford to wait,” said Councilwoman Shannon Leadbetter. “This project restores lost marshes, strengthens our shorelines, and turns dredged material into a resilience asset rather than a waste product. I am committed to working with the county, the Resilience Authority, and local partners to support these efforts so that South County—and the wider region—can benefit from a model that protects both our homes and our natural habitats.”
“Our Department of Public Works has spent more than two decades studying our waterways, maintaining navigation channels, and laying the technical foundation that made this milestone possible,” said Karen Henry, Director for Anne Arundel County’s Department of Public Works. “From early dredging assessments to the identification of vulnerable marsh systems and the development of initial design concepts, our team has worked closely with State partners, engineers, and the community to build a science-based path forward for regional sediment management.”
“Projects like this simply do not happen without sustained support from our elected officials, the deep expertise across Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works, DNR, MDE, and our federal partners—and certainly not without organizations like the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation,” said Matt Fleming, Director of the Resilience Authority. “Their commitment to innovative, comprehensive projects that protect habitat, infrastructure, and local economies is helping us turn years of technical groundwork into a replicable model for communities across the Chesapeake Bay. We are grateful for their investment and look forward to advancing a project that restores marshes, strengthens our shoreline, and transforms dredged material into an asset for long-term resilience.”
Local community partners also emphasized the importance of the project.
“Our region is facing real challenges from sea level rise and erosion, and this project offers a practical, science-based solution,” said J. Paul Rickett, Founder and Executive Director of the Broadwater Creek Coalition. “By reusing nearby dredged material to restore marshes and protect shorelines, we can turn a long-standing problem into a powerful resilience tool.”
“As a local, Anne Arundel County-based firm, BayLand is pleased to continue its ongoing partnership with the Resilience Authority. We have deep roots in this part of the county and are looking forward to providing resiliency to local communities, while improving navigable access, and restoring lost marsh habitat with beneficial use techniques,” said Sepehr Baharlou, President of BayLand Consultants & Designers.
For more information about the project or the Resilience Authority of Annapolis and Anne Arundel County, please visit resilienceauthority.org.
