Informing, Improving, and Expanding Water Quality and Financing through Advanced Data Management

Over the past three decades, billions of federal, state, and local dollars have been deployed to support water infrastructure projects and other programs that reduce point and nonpoint sources of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

The University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center examined the trends that emerged in terms of project characteristics that drive successful outcomes and identified gaps in how funders collect evaluation data. After analyzing 699 projects across two major Bay-wide funders, the EFC provided recommendations for improving the impact of grant-funded programs and projects. Specifically, the EFC recommended that funders establish a process to better coordinate data collection efforts in order to assess and improve future program evaluation and regional investment.

The complete findings and recommendations are detailed in this report.