A Blue Water Project to Restore the Chesapeake Bay

Thanks to the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC),
CBF (Chesapeake Bay Foundation) has been selected to receive an RBC
Blue Water Project™ Leadership Grant. This
two-year grant from RBC will support CBF’s
vital efforts in both Maryland and Virginia to
restore two of the Bay’s natural filters—oysters
and forested stream buffers.
RBC’s decade-long Blue Water Project™ is
part of its global commitment to help protect
fresh water. In 2011, grants were
awarded to 30 of 1,800 organizations that
applied, making CBF one of only six U.S.-
based non-profits selected. Since 2007,
RBC has committed more than $32 million
in grants to 454 organizations across
the world.
Local RBC offices in Annapolis, Baltimore,
Hunt Valley, Lancaster, Richmond, and
Virginia Beach have developed relationships
with CBF and it is through these relationships
that CBF was able to apply for a Blue
Water Project™ Leadership Grant.
RBC’s support will enable CBF to plant millions
of juvenile oysters and place hundreds
of oyster reef balls into local rivers. In addition,
CBF will be able to restore thousands
of feet of local stream banks by planting
native trees, another natural filter that
reduces pollution and sediment runoff to
the Bay.
CBF’s Vice President for Environmental
Protection and Restoration Kim Coble
speaks to the importance of RBC’s support,
“The giant plume of sediment (see
page 28) that clouded the Bay for weeks
this fall after heavy rains is testament to the
need for buffers along the Bay to prevent
pollution and sediment runoff. It also spotlights
the plight of the oyster, which, when
healthy, can filter nearly 50 gallons of water
a day. The RBC Blue Water Project™
Leadership Grant will support valuable
work that will have a direct positive impact
on the health of the Bay, and for that, we
are grateful.”
“CBF is a well-established organization
with a successful track record in watershed
protection. We are proud to support
CBF’s restoration efforts, which are critical
to the future of the Chesapeake Bay,” says
Sherry Koster, Manager of the RBC
Foundation—USA.

From page 26 of: http://cbf.org/document.doc?id=1018