Water: Nonpoint Source Success Stories
State Funding Programs Virginia's Water Quality Improvement Act
|The purpose of the Virginia Water Quality Improvement Act of 1997 is to restore and improve the quality of state waters and protect them from impairment and destruction for the benefit of current and future citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Because this responsibility is shared among state and local governments and individuals, the Water Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF) was created.
The purpose of the fund is to provide water quality improvement grants to local governments, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, and individuals for point and nonpoint source pollution prevention, reduction, and control programs. A primary objective of the WQIF is to fund grants that will reduce the flow of excess nitrogen and phosphorus into the Chesapeake Bay through the implementation of Tributary Strategies prepared in accordance with the multistate/EPA/DC Chesapeake Bay Program and with state law.
Fund appropriations for fiscal year 1998 included $15 million (with $10 million for point sources and $5 million for nonpoint sources), and appropriations for 1999–2000 included more than $50 million (including $27 million for nonpoint sources). Most of the grants from the fund will be provided as matching funds, usually on a 50/50 cost-share basis.For more information on Virginia's Water Quality Improvement Act, see www.dcr.state.va.us/ sw/wqia.htm.