Maryland: Poplar Island Restoration Gets $192 Million in WRDA
Several projects in Maryland could receive kick starts if their authorizations in the new Water Resources Development Act turn into appropriations. Nearly $300 million in project-specific funding is earmarked for state projects, thanks in part to a push by Senate Environment and Public Works Committee member Ben Cardin (D-Md.). Topping the list of Maryland projects in the newly enacted WRDA includes $192 million for the expansion of Poplar Island, an island restoration project in the Chesapeake Bay.
Poplar Island spanned more than 1,000 acres in 1847, but had nearly eroded away 150 years later. Since 1997, the Army Corps of Engineers and Maryland Port Administration have led efforts to restore the island using dredged material from the Port of Baltimore. The first two phases, which were built by Kiewit Construction and Skanska, created 570 acres of wetlands and 570 acres of uplands.