By Jeff Skelding, Executive Director, Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR)
On Election Day 2022, New York voters overwhelmingly approved the $4.2 billion “Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Bond Act.” This decisive response from the New York electorate is the largest environmental bond act in the history of the state, making investments in:
Water Quality and Resilient Infrastructure
Open Space Conservation and Recreation
Restoration and Flood Risk Reduction
Climate Change Mitigation
The Coalition, along with Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR), and New York League of Conservation Voters (NYLCV) worked together with watershed partners to support the ballot measure through education and outreach in the Upper Delaware region.
Funding from this Bond Act will complement and enhance future conservation investments from the federal Delaware River Basin Restoration Program (DRBRP), building on the almost $5 million in federal funding and local match generated by that program for watershed protection and restoration since 2018 in the UDR region in New York.
The new state funding also goes hand in hand with FUDR’s $300,000 line-item in the NYS Environmental Protection Fund secured in the 2023 NYS budget. That funding supports the implementation of the DRBRP, development of a UDR watershed wide action agenda, and implementation of on-the-ground projects that protect water quality, mitigate flooding, improve aquatic habitat, and enhance outdoor recreational opportunities.
The Bond Act will also address economic inequities and environmental justice needs in one of New York’s most impoverished regions by making significant community-based investments in the UDR watershed that strengthen local economies, protect public infrastructure, create jobs, maintain high water quality, and ensure sustainable natural resource based occupations.
Our unified action around the Clean Water, Clean Air, Green Jobs Bond Act, lead regionally by FUDR, highlighted the significant benefits this statewide investment could present to the watershed. We look forward to working with our partners in the region to ensure that funding from the Bond Act is steered towards New York’s Upper Delaware River Region, securing sound investments in the economic and environmental future of our communities and our watershed.