Deadline: 11-Feb-22
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has launched the 2022 Vermont Watershed Grants Program to provide financial assistance to groups looking to protect, restore, and enhance the biological integrity and public appreciation of Vermont’s lakes, ponds, rivers and streams.
The Vermont Watershed Grant Program’s primary focus has been to support the protection, restoration, enhancement, and public appreciation of Vermont’s lake, pond, rivers and streams. The grant program also supports efforts that improve surface water quality in keeping with stated habitat improvement objectives.
The Program, co-administered by DEC and the Department of Fish and Wildlife, distributes grant dollars for noteworthy local and regional water-related projects within Vermont. The other half of proceeds derived from the Conservation License Plate go towards helping the Vermont Non-Game and Natural Heritage Program.
Watershed Grant projects have included:
- Protect or restore fish and wildlife habitat
- Protect or restore water quality and shoreline
- Monitor fish and wildlife populations and/or water quality
- Reduce nutrient and sedimentation loading
- Enhance recreational use and enjoyment of aquatic habitat
- Educate people about aquatic resources and conservation stewardship
- Identify and protect historic and cultural resources associated with habitat conservation and stewardship
Categories
- Education and outreach
- Educational programs for youth, related to wetland, lake or stream ecology.
- A community newsletter for lakeshore property owners to address shoreline and lake conservation topics.
- A workshop for road foremen on best management practices to address transportation-related stormwater runoff.
- Planning, assessment, inventory, monitoring:
- Working with landowners to assess stream
- Assisting landowners and municipal road officials plan and manage storm runoff from driveways, parking areas, and town roads.
- Water quality monitoring of an important habitat area.
- A survey of road erosion areas or local culverts associated with surface waters to identify priority areas in need work.
- On-the-ground implementation
- Rain gardens or other infiltration-based practice to control runoff from stormwater.
- Planting native trees and shrubs to restore aquatic habitat areas.
- River clean-up projects.
- Dam removal.
- Instream habitat improvements to benefit the aquatic community.
- Measures to improve aquatic organism passage, such as through culverts.
Funding Information
- Total available funding is $70,000.
- Project Category Types
- Education and outreach – up to $5,000
- Planning, assessment, inventory, monitoring – up to $3,500
- On-the-ground implementation – up to $10,000
Eligibility Criteria
- Municipalities, local or regional governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and citizen groups are eligible to receive watershed grant dollars for work on public or private lands.
- Individuals and state and federal agencies are not eligible to receive funds directly but may be partners of a project.
- Only one project will be accepted per applicant.
- Applications will not be accepted from groups with open Watershed Grants from a previous year.
For more information, visit https://dec.vermont.gov/water-investment/cwi/grants/co-opportunities