Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership

Nonprofits are eligible for the Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership which is designed to alleviate hefty stormwater fees. Once you complete a partnership agreement with the County, the County can conduct site assessments to provide on-site stormwater treatment opportunities to the Maximum Extent Practicable (MEP), which may be less than 100 percent of the total site's stormwater treatment needs given space limitations. The property owner agrees to implement identified practices and then 100% of the Watershed Protection Fee is credited to the owner. HOA’s are NOT eligible to become a partner but may apply for the Community Stormwater Partnership grant. Joining the partnership is easy and at no cost to nonprofits. Please note that this partnership is only for nonprofits. 

The deadline for completion of the Partnership Agreement is February 1 of each year to receive a 100% credit to the July 1 Fee of that same year.  Agreements accepted after February 1 will be applied to the following year's bill and not retroactively awarded to past bills.

Update your Contact Information

IF YOU ARE AN EXISTING PARTNER, UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION HERE:

please update your contact information here so that your nonprofit can know of future opportunities for installing best management practices, planting trees, and more. Thank you!

How to join the Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership

• Step 1: Complete a Partnership Agreement (after this point, a 100 percent credit to the fee is awarded for future billings contingent on implementation of the BMPs.  The credit is not awarded retroactively to past payments.  You only need to apply to the Partnership once, it automatically renews each year as long as you are complying with the Partnership Agreement.).
• Step 2: The County (or its consultant) conducts a site assessment.
• Step 3: The County and the nonprofit agree to on-site practices that will meet the maximum extent practicable (MEP), based on site assessment. (This is the last opportunity for a nonprofit to withdraw from the partnership. If they withdraw, the fee will resume at the next billing cycle.)
• Step 4: The County and the nonprofit sign a Scope of Work that outlines the implementation and maintenance of the practices to be installed.
• Step 5: The practices are installed on the nonprofit property (solidifying their partnership and the 100 percent credit to the fee).
• Step 6: The County verifies that the practices are functioning as intended while the nonprofit oversees maintenance. Every three years the nonprofit will submit documentation to the County, confiming the practices are still functioning as intended, with the option for a County site visit to confirm.

The County may work with nonprofit prop­erty own­ers to assist in the cost of imple­ment­ing the iden­ti­fied stormwa­ter man­age­ment practices.

If a nonprofit orga­ni­za­tion does not agree to an MOU, or later opts out of the part­ner­ship, then the Water­shed Pro­tec­tion Fee will be cal­cu­lated at the non-residential/commercial rate described above. Should a nonprofit orga­ni­za­tion with­out an MOU install stormwa­ter con­trol prac­tices, they can be cred­ited at the percent equivalent to the imper­vi­ous square footage treated to current standards under commercial property credit guidelines.

Trees for Bees 

Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partners are eligible to participate in Howard County's annual Trees for Bees program that takes place at Greenfest. Nonprofit sign up and registration will open in March. Nonprofits are eligible to receive up to 50 native trees and shrubs for their property. Details coming soon.  

 

Partnership Q and A's

Is the Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership related to Howard County's Stormwater Management Facility Inspections? 

No, the stormwater inspections of existing practices are handled by the Department of Public Work's Stormwater Management Division every three years. 

How does credit work? 

Credit is typically awarded based on the fee equivalent to the impervious treated by on site stormwater treatment practices that are voluntary. Nonprofit properties are eligible to receive a credit of up to 100% of the fee if the Nonprofit is a part of the Nonprofit Watershed Protection Partnership. Fee is waived upon joining the Partnership until site has reached MEP. Credit is awarded after site reaches MEP. 

• Can I get credit for watershed outreach and education activities? At this moment in time, Howard County can not award credit to nonprofit Partners for participating in outreach and education activities.  We hope to be able to award credit for nonstructural activities in the future. 

What is MEP? 

Maximum Extent Practicable or "MEP" is a commonly used term is stormwater management that means designing stormwater management systems so that all reasonable opportunities for using ESD planning techniques and treatment practices are exhausted and only where absolutely necessary, a structural BMP is implemented.

• How do I know if I'm at MEP? Your site is at MEP when existing untreated impervious is fully treated by stormwater treatment practices. This is verified by engineers and approved by Howard County. The Office of Community Sustainability will notify your site is at MEP.  

When was the last site assessment conducted by the County? 

In the fall of 2023, the nonprofit Watershed Partnership Program kicked off the first round of site assessments since the program began. The Center for Watershed Protection identified opportunities for additional stormwater treatment practices. 

• Was my site assessed? Most sites of Partners who joined before 2024 received a site assessment.
• When is the next site assessment? TBD. We encourage new partners to participate in opportunities shared throughout the year while they wait for a site assessment. 

What type of projects are recommended after a site assessment? 

The project types recommended by the Center for Watershed Protection are categorized into two groups. 

1. Structural Projects with larger Best Management Practices like bioretentions, dry swales and pond retrofits.

   2.Community Projects with smaller Best Management Practices like rain barrels, tree plantings, impervious cover removal, etc. 

How do I get updates on my Partnership Status? 

• Update your contact information here to stay informed on general updates
• Reach out to afarrell@howardcountymd.gov directly for any questions related to your status.