A significant change in federal water policy is beginning to direct more public funding toward projects that produce measurable improvements in water quality. For companies involved in water and wastewater infrastructure, stormwater management, environmental remediation and restoration, the change could translate into new contracting opportunities.
The most recent signal came this week on Sept. 16, when President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies involved in Chesapeake Bay restoration to focus resources on direct, on-the-ground projects in areas of greatest need. But the order also instructed agencies providing funding to prioritize projects that directly reduce nutrient and sediment runoff and to redirect funding away from activities that do not generate measurable progress toward established water-quality goals.
The directive applies to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and five other federal funding departments, and it calls for strategies based on objective metrics, scientific analysis and measurable outcomes. Performance is expected to be documented through indicators such as reductions in nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment loads and improvements in water quality.
The policy change comes as federal officials acknowledge that substantial work remains to be done in the Chesapeake region with evaluations of the watershed jurisdictions’ 2026-27 commitments. The agency has announced that continued investment will be needed, particularly in agricultural and developed areas.
The numbers illustrate the challenge. As of 2025, jurisdictions throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed had achieved 100 percent of the established sediment-reduction goal and approximately 90 percent of the phosphorus-reduction goal. However, only 57 percent of the nitrogen-reduction goal had been achieved. Nitrogen entering the Bay declined from approximately 297.1 million pounds in 2009 to 252.7 million pounds in 2025, but the established goal is approximately 219.5 million pounds.
The September executive order builds on a funding shift that EPA began earlier this year. In April, the agency announced more than $57 million in implementation grants for Chesapeake Bay signatory partners. EPA said it was redirecting money from coordination activities to field-tested projects and increasing annual state implementation grants.
The types of projects identified for future funding are of significant note for the contracting community. They include stream and wetland restoration, urban stormwater retrofits, wastewater and septic system upgrades, agricultural conservation projects, nutrient management, tree planting and riparian buffers. The objective is to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment while producing measurable environmental results. State and local governments throughout the watershed are also moving additional funding into infrastructure.
Maryland officials announced nearly $23 million in funding this month for wastewater treatment operations and aging water infrastructure. Approximately $11 million will support operations and maintenance at wastewater treatment plants that have been upgraded to reduce pollution entering waterways and the Chesapeake Bay. The work involves biological and mechanical systems including aeration basins, blowers, denitrification filters, chemical feed equipment, pumps, motors, electrical controls, monitoring instruments, clarifiers and sludge-handling equipment.
Another approximately $12 million was approved for water infrastructure projects in Prince George’s County. The projects include a $4.8 million effort to replace approximately two miles of 65-year-old water mains along Larkwood Avenue, a $3.6 million Rolling Acres water main project and a $3.6 million project involving water and sewer main replacement along Weldon Drive.
Those investments follow more than $40 million Maryland announced in August for six water-main replacement projects in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. The projects range from approximately $4.1 million to $10.2 million and are part of a broader program to rehabilitate or replace deteriorating water mains and service connections. WSSC Water serves approximately 1.9 million customers and operates more than 11,000 miles of water and sewer mains.
Maryland’s Fiscal 2027 budget includes more than $400 million for Chesapeake Bay and clean-water projects. State officials say the next phase of the effort will include continued modernization of wastewater infrastructure along with projects designed to address stormwater, agricultural runoff and aging infrastructure.
The new federal emphasis on projects producing measurable results is not limited to the Chesapeake Bay.
On Sept. 22, EPA announced the largest investment ever made through its San Francisco Bay Program. More than $82 million will fund 20 projects designed to improve water quality and restore habitat throughout the bay and surrounding watersheds. The grant recipients will begin their projects in 2026.
One $7 million award to the Bay Area Clean Water Agencies will support five pilot projects focused on reducing nutrients entering San Francisco Bay. The work will test biological nutrient-removal technologies at wastewater treatment plants, evaluate nature-based nutrient-management approaches and support development of a regional nutrient-trading program.
The San Francisco Public Utilities Commission will receive $5 million for construction of green stormwater infrastructure throughout the city’s Outer Mission neighborhood. Planned improvements include planted sidewalk filtration systems, rain gardens and underground infrastructure designed to increase infiltration.
Another $5.6 million will support habitat restoration along Highway 37 in San Pablo Bay, and approximately $4 million will help restore tidal flow to 80 acres of marsh at Rush Ranch. A $3 million project will restore 275 acres of tidal marsh as part of the South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project, while the City of Oakland will receive $3 million to remove PCB-contaminated soil from Arroyo Viejo Creek.
Federal water investments continued this week. On Sept. 24, EPA announced another $2.55 million in grants for wetland programs involving nine states and universities throughout the Mid-Atlantic. The funding will support wetland mapping, restoration, monitoring and other activities intended to help states improve management and protection of aquatic resources.
The emerging pattern is worth watching. Federal water policy is placing increased emphasis on projects that can demonstrate results, and states and local governments are simultaneously confronting aging water and wastewater systems, stormwater challenges and increasingly difficult sources of pollution.
That combination will require much more than federal grants. It will require engineering and environmental services, wastewater treatment technology, nutrient-removal systems, construction, water and sewer replacement, monitoring equipment, stormwater infrastructure, restoration expertise and numerous other professional services.
The Chesapeake Bay directive is particularly noteworthy because federal agencies have now been explicitly instructed to move resources toward projects that produce measurable improvements. EPA had already begun making that shift before the executive order was issued.
For contracting firms that compete to deliver water projects, the important question will be where those redirected dollars go. As government officials translate the new emphasis into implementation plans, grant awards and individual projects, opportunities will follow. And because most upcoming projects will require planning, engineering and environmental work before construction can begin, early positioning will be critical.
