Deadline: 2-Dec-21
The Chesapeake Bay Trust is pleased to announce Montgomery County Watershed Restoration and Outreach Grant Program that aims to promote initiatives and projects which will improve water quality in Montgomery County’s local streams and waterways through public engagement, education, and on-the-ground restoration.
Projects should educate and engage residents in watershed improvement while achieving measurable impacts and sustainable behavior change. Creative and innovative proposals are encouraged. Together, these efforts will restore and protect the local rivers and streams of Montgomery County.
Goals
- The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has the responsibility to meet regulatory watershed restoration and water quality improvement goals.
- The DEP will focus on funding projects that increase public engagement and advocate stewardship activities that reduce pollutants through community-based restoration and outreach projects that will ultimately change behaviors with intentional programming using social science best practices.
- Projects should be inclusive of the community and represent the diversity of Montgomery County.
- The Trust serves as the administrator for this grant program which is funded entirely through the Montgomery County Water Quality Protection Charge. This program seeks projects that will:
- Assist 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations such as watershed organizations, faith-based, or civic organizations to significantly engage residents in achieving water quality improvement through increased awareness and quantifiable behavior change;
- Demonstrate runoff reduction and local water quality improvement on property owned by non-profit organizations such as faith-based organizations, community associations, community pools, private schools, or other types of non-profit entities; and/or
- Reduce litter in the Anacostia River Watershed through litter reduction-focused stewardship programs.
Funding Information
- Up to $30,000 for Public Outreach and Stewardship projects (Track 1) and up to $100,000 for Community Based Restoration (Track 2) projects.
- Project Type 1: Public Outreach and Stewardship: (request amount up to $30,000 for public outreach and stewardship projects and up to $50,000 for behavior change projects)
- Project Type 2: Community Based Restoration Implementation: (request amount up to $100,000 or larger with prior approval)
- Project Type 3: Litter Reduction in the Anacostia River Watershed: (request amount up to $50,000 or larger with prior approval)
Eligible Project Types
The Montgomery County Watershed Restoration and Outreach Grant Program supports requests for funding of the following project types in this Request for Proposals (RFP):
- Public Outreach and Stewardship
- Projects in this category will aim to educate and engage residents in watershed improvement with the goal of achieving measurable impacts, community stewardship, and sustainable behavior change.
- The best proposals will include engagement centered within BIPOC communities, identify and target a specific audience, the need for the program, the outreach strategies to be used, how success will be measured (evaluation), and the expected result. .
- Community Based Restoration Implementation
- Several stages of small-scale community-based restoration work will be supported: designs (conceptual and final design); design and build projects; and projects where final designs exist, and funds are needed for implementation only.
- Each project must have the defined goal of and a process that leads to the eventual successful implementation of “in the ground” projects that reduce stormwater runoff, improve water quality, and educate the public. Restoration projects in BIPOC communities and/or partnering with BIPOC led businesses, organizations, HOAs and/or faith-based institutions are highly encouraged.
- Litter Reduction in the Anacostia River Watershed
- A track to specifically broaden the people and groups involved in the solutions to reduce litter in the Anacostia River Watershed. Projects must have a defined goal and process that leads to the eventual successful implementation of efforts that reduce litter entering the Anacostia Watershed and/or innovative techniques to influence positive behavior change to reduce littering behavior.
- The best proposals will outline a project with measurable outcomes and proven strategies of litter and waste reduction techniques.
- Successful structural or removal/pick up projects will be able to report litter and/or waste reduction metrics at project end (e.g., total weight and volume of litter collected; number of bags of trash and recyclables collected; and counts of trash types) and will have a plan for future maintenance/sustainability of the effort.
- Priority will be given to projects which present data that can be reported on the Montgomery County MS4 report towards meeting the Anacostia trash Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) reduction goals. All projects must be done in the Anacostia River Watershed.
Geographic Areas
Montgomery County, Maryland outside the municipalities of Rockville, Gaithersburg, and Takoma Park.
Eligibility Criteria
- Montgomery County and the Trust welcome requests from the following 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations:
- Watershed organizations
- Faith-based organizations
- Service, youth, and civic groups
- Community associations
- Private schools (public school sustainable efforts are supported through the School Energy and Recycling Team Program)
- Groups that have predominantly community-oriented missions, whether they are environmentally focused or not, are strongly encouraged to submit an application.
For more information, visit https://cbtrust.org/grants/montgomery-county-watershed-restoration-outreach/
