2023 Grants in Connecticut

CLEAN WATERS AND HEALTHY WATERSHEDS

A Community and Student-Driven Partnership to Implement Green Infrastructure (81312)

Grantee: Southwest Conservation District

Grant Amount: $231,200
Matching Funds: $58,500.00
Total 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.

Design to Improve Water Quality, Public Access and Resilience (81450)

Grantee: The Trust for Public Land

Grant Amount: $350,000
Matching Funds: $350,000
Total 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.

Final Design of the Brookfield Sewer Extension (81268)

Grantee: Brookfield Water Pollution Control Authority

Grant Amount: $300,000
Matching Funds: $75,000
Total 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.

Improving Water Quality into Long Island Sound by Managing Farm Waste at Roaring Brook Farm (81314)

Grantee: North Central Conservation District

Grant Amount: $985,600
Matching Funds: $650,000
Total 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.

Improving Water Quality by Managing Nutrients at a Livestock Operation (81274)

Grantee: Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District

Grant Amount: $214,600
Matching Funds: $90,000
Total 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.

Learning “Lots” about Permeable Pavers to Improve Water Quality Phase I (81077)

Grantee: Town of Groton

Grant Amount: $190,000
Matching Funds:
$56,000
Total 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.

Planning to Improve Water Quality and Increase Community Resilience (81371)

Grantee: The Nature Conservancy

Grant Amount: $361,100
Matching Funds: $236,600
Total 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.

Reducing Nitrogen in Long Island Sound by Managing Farm Waste on a Dairy Farm-II (81426)

Grantee: Northwest Conservation District

Grant Amount: $418,000
Matching Funds: $307,900
Total 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.

Reducing Nitrogen in Long Island Sound by Managing Farm Waste at Valley View Farm (79554)

Grantee: Eastern Connecticut Conservation District

Grant Amount: $1,300,000
Matching Funds: $1,060,000
Total 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.

Project Name: Water Quality Buffers for Bridgeport (81361)

Grantee: Aspetuck Land Trust

Grant Amount: $187,400
Matching Funds: $48,600
Total 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.

THRIVING HABITATS AND ABUNDANT WILDLIFE

Developing a Restoration Plan for Bluff Point State Park (80950)

Grantee: University of Connecticut

Grant Amount: $198,700
Matching Funds: $49,700
Total 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.

Feasibility Study to Enhance Fish Passage at Road-Stream Crossing (81484)

Grantee: Town of Groton

Grant Amount: $150,000
Matching Funds: $51,300
Total 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.

Nature-based Solutions to Expand a Living Shoreline (81281)

Grantee: Sacred Heart University

Grant Amount: $145,000
Matching Funds: $57,300
Total 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.

Planning to Improve Resiliency, Habitat and Public Access at Veterans’ Park-II (81315)

Grantee: City of Norwalk

Grant Amount: $322,000
Matching Funds: $82,000
Total 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.

Planning to Restore Alewife Cove (81285)

Grantee: City of New London

Grant Amount: $399,900
Matching Funds: $126,700
Total 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.

A Plan to Restore the Farmington River: Stakeholder Engagement and Investigation of the Impacts of Rainbow Dam (80751)

Grantee: Save the Sound

Grant Amount: $260,300
Matching Funds: $77,500
Total 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.

SUSTAINABLE AND RESILIENT COMMUNITIES

Connecting the New Haven Community with Its Blue Backyard-II (80145)

Grantee: University of New Haven

Grant Amount: $247,700
Matching Funds: $71,100
Total 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.

Growing Outdoor Sound Learning and Stewardship in New Haven Public Schools (81267)

Grantee: New Haven Ecology Project/ Common Ground

Grant Amount: $197,200
Matching Funds: $63,700
Total 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.

Marine Debris Prevention and Art Outreach Campaign (79694)

Grantee: Sea Research Foundation

Grant Amount: $118,000
Matching Funds: $151,200
Total 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.

Students Inventing Long Island Sound Solutions (79485)

Grantee: Connecticut Invention Convention

Grant Amount: $59,500
Matching Funds: $15,500
Total 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.