2023 Request for Proposals: Chi-Cal Rivers Fund – United States

Deadline: 18-Jul-23

The Chi–Cal Rivers Fund (Fund) is inviting applications for competitive grant funding.

With a focus on the major waterways of the Chicago and Calumet region, the program will award grants to reduce stormwater runoff with green infrastructure, enhance fish and wildlife habitat and improve public access to and use of natural areas.

The Fund supports voluntary projects that advance the goals of regional land use, conservation and/or restoration plans and other ongoing strategies designed to restore the health, vitality, climate resilience and accessibility of the waterways in Chicago and the Calumet region. Applicants are encouraged to align their proposed projects with those regional efforts and demonstrate how they would complement and connect to other previous and ongoing work in the region.

Categories

Habitat Quality
- Funding in this category will support riparian, in-stream, upland and wetland habitat improvements along or near the major waterways of the system listed under the Geographic Focus section. Competitive projects will achieve a range of ecological benefits, such as improving water quality, reducing erosion, and increasing the complexity, connectivity and quality of habitat. Priority will be given to projects that improve native/natural habitat, benefit species of concern, and increase biodiversity and maintain healthy native populations.
Green Stormwater Infrastructure
- Funding in this category will support green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) projects that improve stormwater capture and storage to mitigate the impacts of climate change, including reducing runoff, combined sewer overflows, basement backups and flooding through nature-based design.
- Eligible work includes:
  - Install new GSI practices including but not limited to nature-based solutions such as constructing stormwater wetlands, restoring urban forests, installing rain gardens, bioswales, etc.
  - Maintain and/or improve the function of existing GSI installations. Funding will be prioritized for projects that implement GSI maintenance via new approaches or management systems that achieve dual benefits: maintain ecological function of GSI and engage/support communities to secure long-term and sustainable maintenance solutions that increase community-level capacity.
- Priority will be given to projects that are:
  - developed through community input,
  - equitably engage community-level partners throughout the life of the project and beyond,
  - incorporate planning for increasingly severe and more frequent storm events into their design, location, and/or function,
  - utilize native or non-invasive, urban-adapted plant and tree species designed to improve habitat for pollinators or diversify and sustain the urban canopy.
Public Access
- Funding in this category will support the creation of new or enhancements of existing infrastructure that improves public access to and use of natural areas in close proximity to the major waterways of the system.
- Priority will be given to projects that directly benefit low-income communities and communities of color and incorporate habitat restoration and/or green stormwater infrastructure elements into their design.

Funding Information

Approximately $1.5 million is expected to be available for grant awards in 2023. Individual grant awards will range from $150,000 to $400,000.

Duration

Anticipated completion time for funded projects will typically be two (2) years or two field seasons following finalization of a grant agreement.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, tribal governments and organizations, and educational institutions.
To be competitive, applicant organizations must demonstrate capacity and experience commensurate with the scale of the project being proposed and the funding being requested.