Richmond’s most heavily polluted watersheds that drain into the James River will get some extra attention, thanks to a $1 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, it has been announced.

According to the city’s Department of Public Utilities, the money will allow the department to partner with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to create a “green master plan” that would propose methods to capture and treat stormwater runoff into Cannon’s Branch/Shockoe Creek in North Side and Downtown, Gillie’s Creek in the East End and Manchester Canal/Goose Creek in South Side.

The master plan would identify places where projects need to be installed to capture stormwater, including pervious water retention systems and permeable sidewalks and streets to allow stormwater to soak into the ground and be filtered rather than running over pavement into the streams, and planting water-capturing trees and native plants.

The ultimate aim would be to reduce the amount of polluting nitrogen, phosphorus, petroleum products and sediment entering the streams and ultimately the river, said DPU Deputy Director Jennifer Hatchett.

The plan of action will “cover all the public lands” in those three watersheds that were identified as the most polluted in the city in the RVA-H20 regional plan that was developed earlier, she said.

She said the grant would help the partnership create cleaner water faster. — JEREMY M. LAZARUS