Capital Grants for the Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund
The Open Space Institute recently announce Round IV of Capital Grants for the Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund. These Capital Grants support the permanent protection of intact forest lands that safeguard water quality and aquifer recharge in five focus areas in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. Proposals are due by 5 pm on December 8 - you can read the full Request for Proposals here. OSI will also be hosting a free webinar on November 10 from 3:00 – 4:00 pm, to review the application process and to answer any questions (registration link).
2017 Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grants
Additionally, the Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grants Program announced its 2017 request for proposals. This program will award approximately $2.5 million in grants nationwide to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support. Proposals are due January 31, 2017 - for more information click here. Additional information about the program and the application process will be discussed during a free webinar on November 15 from 2:00 – 3:30 pm (registration link).
Help us Thank Our Delaware River Watershed Champions in Congress
A letter supporting the DRBCA and four other regional program authorizations was sent to congressional leadership last week from a bipartisan group of 58 Senators and Representatives, including 19 members from the Delaware River Watershed. The letter, which can be viewed here, calls on congressional leadership to include the DRBCA and the other programs in the final Water Resources Development Act conference report, much like our letter that we sent two weeks ago (with over 65 organizations signed on to it). We sent out social media thank-yous to all of the members that joined the letter as well as emails to the staff – please feel free to retweet our messages, which you can view here. The letter included the following DRW delegation members:
- Sen. Booker (NJ)
- Sen. Carper (DE)
- Sen. Casey (PA)
- Sen. Coons (PA)
- Sen. Gillibrand (NY)
- Sen. Menendez (NJ)
- Sen. Schumer (NY)
- Rep. Boyle (PA-13)
- Rep. Brady (PA-1)
- Rep. Carney (DE-At Large)
- Rep. Cartwright (PA-17)
- Rep. Costello (PA-6)
- Rep. Dent (PA-15)
- Rep. Gibson (NY-19)
- Rep. Hanna (NY-22)
- Rep. LoBiondo (NJ-2)
- Rep. MacArthur (NJ-3)
- Rep. Norcross (NJ-1)
- Rep. Watson Coleman (NJ-12)