The city of Suffolk has been awarded $500,000 to design and retrofit an existing pond into a stormwater management facility, Gov. Bob McDonnell’s office announced last week.

The grants to 31 localities from the new Stormwater Local Assistance Fund total $22.9 million and support 71 projects.

“These grants are another step forward in our efforts to assist localities and continue improving water quality in the Commonwealth,” McDonnell said in a press release. “By targeting the needs of local governments, we are helping to reduce pollution in our waterways, and cleaning up our environment.”

The fund, administered by the Department of Environmental Quality, was included in the governor’s budget and established by the 2013 General Assembly. It makes $35 million available to local governments as matching grants for best management practices that reduce pollution from stormwater runoff.

The Department of Environmental Quality will award the remaining $12.1 million in the fund through another grant round in 2014. This will enable applicants not selected this year to identify other options for improving water quality, focusing on cost-effectiveness and enhanced stormwater management plans that address required water quality improvements. McDonnell included another $20 million in the second year of his proposed budget for additional projects.

The approved projects are designed to reduce levels of phosphorus, a key pollutant in stormwater. They have relatively high environmental benefits in terms of pounds of phosphorus removed per year, and they are the most cost-effective of the proposals that DEQ considered.

In the last four years Virginia has reduced nitrogen pollution by 11.1 percent, phosphorus pollution by 7.7 percent and sediment pollution by 6.9 percent in state waters. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded Virginia with its “Biggest Loser Award” in recognition of these efforts.