Grantee: Southwest Conservation District
Grant Amount: $231,200Matching Funds: $58,500.00Total Project Amount: $289,800
Develop five collaborative stormwater retrofit designs working with local government and University of Connecticut students; and install 50,000 square feet of green infrastructure in Norwalk, Fairfield, Westport, Wilton and New Canaan. Project will reduce stormwater pollution runoff into Long Island Sound.
Grantee: The Trust for Public Land
Grant Amount: $350,000Matching Funds: $350,000Total Project Amount: $700,000
Advance the community’s concept design to a 100 percent engineered plan for new green space, a living shoreline, and green infrastructure; and conduct 10 events to engage 200 members of the public in design in Bridgeport. Project will enhance the resilience of waterfront properties to storms and improve water quality with nature-based solutions and provide for increased public access in an underserved urban community.
Grantee: Brookfield Water Pollution Control Authority
Grant Amount: $300,000Matching Funds: $75,000Total Project Amount: $375,000
Create final design for a low-pressure wastewater collection system with individual grinder pumps and low-pressure piping below-ground for 91 low-lying lots in Brookfield. Project will produce a pathway to improve water quality by reducing bacteria, nitrogen and phosphorus into the Still River and downstream to Long Island Sound.
Grantee: North Central Conservation District
Grant Amount: $985,600Matching Funds: $650,000Total Project Amount: $1,635,600
Construct an agricultural waste storage facility and associated infrastructure at Roaring Brook Farm, within the Broad Brook watershed, in the town of Ellington. Project will prevent the flow of 37,740 pounds of nitrogen and 3,328 pounds of phosphorus from farm waste into local waterways and Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District
Grant Amount: $214,600Matching Funds: $90,000Total Project Amount: $304,600
Install a composted bedded pack facility to provide a confinement area for cows and to store farm waste at a livestock operation located in the Eightmile Wild and Scenic Watershed in the town of Salem. Project will eliminate an open-air feed lot and heavy-use areas preventing the flow of 744.8 pounds of nitrogen and 187 lbs. of phosphorus from farm waste into local waterways and Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Town of Groton
Grant Amount: $190,000Matching Funds: $56,000Total Project Amount: $246,000
Evaluate the feasibility of replacing hard impervious surfaces with infiltrating permeable pavement at town facilities; produce about 60 percent designs for three priority projects; and transfer lessons learned to other local governments with a how-to guide and regional workshop in the town. Project will comprehensively evaluate opportunities to decrease polluted runoff from hard surfaces into local waterways by installing permeable pavement.
Grantee: The Nature Conservancy
Grant Amount: $361,100Matching Funds: $236,600Total Project Amount: $597,700
Develop a hydrologic assessment of the Five Corners area to identify flooding and water quality problem “hot-spots” and recommend methods and places to install projects to reduce these problems; and educate residents about actions they can take to improve the environment in the City of Groton. Project assessment will serve as the basis for developing nature-based solutions to improve water quality and community resilience to storms and sea level rise.
Grantee: Northwest Conservation District
Grant Amount: $418,000Matching Funds: $307,900Total Project Amount: $725,900
Construct a 1.3 million-gallon farm waste storage facility and provide public and farmer education about methods for economically and environmentally sustainable farming at Freund’s Farm in North Canaan. Project will prevent the flow of 19,000 pounds of nitrogen and 11,000 pounds of phosphorus from farm waste into local waterways and Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Eastern Connecticut Conservation District
Grant Amount: $1,300,000Matching Funds: $1,060,000Total Project Amount: $2,360,000
Construct a roofed facility with scrape alleys and a storage tank to house 240 dairy cows at Valley View Farm in North Stonington. Project will eliminate open-air feed lots and heavy use areas preventing the flow of 6,532 pounds of nitrogen and 1,410 pounds of phosphorus from farm waste into local waterways and Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Aspetuck Land Trust
Grant Amount: $187,400Matching Funds: $48,600Total Project Amount: $236,000
Provide education to 5,000 people about flooding and water quality challenges and how these problems affect Long Island Sound working in partnership with community organizations; and support residents and businesses to add 30 green buffer plantings totaling 6,300 square feet to filter pollution from lands near waterways flowing to the sound in Bridgeport. Project will educate people about actions they can take to improve the environment of their community and the sound.
Grantee: University of Connecticut
Grant Amount: $198,700Matching Funds: $49,700Total Project Amount: $248,400
Conduct site planning working with 200 community members and park visitors to identify five highest priority habitat restoration areas and develop concept plans and budgets for their restoration; and develop strategies for citizen science and education across the 800-acre Bluff Point State Park in Groton. Project will establish a pathway towards restoration of an Important Coastal Habitat of Long Island Sound.
Grant Amount: $150,000Matching Funds: $51,300Total Project Amount: $201,300
Conduct a feasibility study and alternatives analysis and prepare a concept design for removal of a culvert at a road-stream crossing; and share information about the project at a public workshop, Haley’s Brook, Town of Groton. Project will establish a potential pathway to address flooding in the community and restore 2.3 miles of fish passage to Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Sacred Heart University
Grant Amount: $145,000Matching Funds: $57,300Total Project Amount: $202,400
Extend an existing living shoreline by 0.35 acres with a combination of bagged shell clutch and small, modular Oyster Castles near the marsh edge and by planting native cordgrass in the intertidal zone at the Connecticut Audubon Society in Stratford Point. Project will evaluate innovative nature-based methods to stabilize and reduce erosion at the marsh, and extend the marsh seaward to make it more resilient to storms and sea-level rise.
Grantee: City of Norwalk
Grant Amount: $322,000Matching Funds: $82,000Total Project Amount: $404,000
Prepare plans to redesign of Veterans’ Park incorporating nature-based solutions including green infrastructure to manage stormwater, flood-adapted public spaces, and a living shoreline; and engage the community in the planning with a stakeholder committee and “walkshops” in Norwalk. Project will guide future activities to expand coastal habitat, increase community flood resilience, improve water quality, and provide shoreline access at a 36-acre park.
Grantee: City of New London
Grant Amount: $399,900Matching Funds: $126,700Total Project Amount: $526,500
Develop a nature-based plan engaging 500 members of the public at three public education events focused on restoring Alewife Cove at the mouth of Long Island Sound and the Thames River, Waterford and New London. Project will establish a pathway to increase shoreline resilience to storms and restore Important Coastal Habitat on the shoreline of Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Save the Sound
Grant Amount: $260,300Matching Funds: $77,500Total Project Amount: $337,700
Engage local stakeholders and conduct an assessment of the impacts of Rainbow Reservoir Dam, located in Windsor, Connecticut. Project will establish a potential pathway to restoration of fish passage on the Farmington River and to Long Island Sound.
Grantee: University of New Haven
Grant Amount: $247,700Matching Funds: $71,100Total Project Amount: $318,800
Expand the university’s community-based marine science education initiative by: training 40 volunteers in science topics to conduct seven events reaching 250 residents; training 52 educators; offering Marine Science Career Days for 30 high school students; and delivering field and classroom visits to 60 K-12 students about marine science in New Haven. Project will enhance the value of the new Institute for Marine Science and Coastal Resilience at Canal Dock Boathouse.
Grantee: New Haven Ecology Project/ Common Ground
Grant Amount: $197,200Matching Funds: $63,700Total Project Amount: $260,900
Engage 2,000 students at seven public schools in Long Island Sound-focused outdoor learning by embedding 75 environmental educators in classrooms; field-testing environmental education experiences aligned with school science curriculum and connected to the sound; and invest in outdoor classrooms and coastal habitats at schools in New Haven. Project will engage an underserved urban community and build the next generation of the sound’s environmental stewards.
Grantee: Sea Research Foundation
Grant Amount: $118,000Matching Funds: $151,200Total Project Amount: $269,300
Develop an educational display with Public Art for Racial Justice about the problem of plastic pollution for use in the field and at Mystic Aquarium reaching 10,800 people; conduct seven shoreline cleanups with 1,500 volunteers; support one park to develop a solution to their plastics problem; and share findings with local government about how to prevent marine debris in three Connecticut communities. Project will educate people about the problem and actions they can take to prevent it.
Grantee: Connecticut Invention Convention
Grant Amount: $59,500Matching Funds: $15,500Total Project Amount: $75,100
Deliver virtual and in-person education about environmental problems affecting Long Island Sound engaging 750 students grades 5-9 from underserved communities to develop creative projects and solutions to solve those problems in underserved communities of East Hartford, Hartford, Bridgeport, Norwich, New London, and Groton. Project will help students understand how the health of the sound affects their communities and how they can become change-makers to improve it.
Descriptions of all 39 grants totaling $12 million awarded in 2023 are also available in a fact sheet.