2023 Grants in MA, NH, VT, and Multistates

CLEAN WATERS AND HEALTHY WATERSHEDS

Massachusetts

Stormwater and Green Infrastructure Improvements to Improve Water Quality (81317)

Grantee: City of Pittsfield, MA

Grant Amount: $637,500
Matching Funds: $212,500
Total Project Amount: $850,000

Install 20,000 sq. ft. of green infrastructure and Low Impact Development improvements including surface and subsurface infiltration basins, bioretention basins and bio-cells at two sites now comprised of hard impervious surfaces which contribute polluted runoff into local waterways, in Pittsfield. Project will prevent 105 pounds of nitrogen, 12 pounds of phosphorus, and 2,905 pounds of sediment from entering the Housatonic River and downstream Long Island Sound.

New Hampshire

Preventing Nitrogen Pollution from Stone Pond Dam (81359)

Grantee: Connecticut River Watershed Council dba Connecticut River Conservancy

Grant Amount: $360,000
Matching Funds: $308,000
Total Project Amount: $668,000

Remove a barrier to fish passage, install a box culvert, and restore a stream channel and floodplain at Stone Pond Dam in Fitzwilliam. Project will excavate 82,000 pounds of nitrogen and 5,700 pounds of phosphorus in sediments behind the dam immediately; and then prevent 908 pounds of nitrogen and 26 pounds of Phosphorus annually preventing pollution from flowing from the Connecticut River and downstream to Long Island Sound.

Multiple States

Planning to Improve Water Quality Working with Local Government (NH, VT) (81167)

Grantee: Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission

Grant Amount: $499,900
Matching Funds: $120,100
Total Project Amount: $620,000

Build a pipeline of 10 projects to install green infrastructure and Low Impact Development improvements by supporting local site identification, design, engineering and permitting activities; and build a community-of-practice to deliver such improvements long-term in urban, suburban, and rural areas of the greater Upper Valley region of New Hampshire and Vermont. Project will produce shovel-ready projects aiming to reduce nitrogen into the Connecticut River and downstream to Long Island Sound.

Retrieving Lobster Traps to Reduce Marine Debris in Long Island Sound-II (CT, NY) (81457)

Grantee: Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County

Grant Amount: $386,000
Matching Funds: $113,500
Total Project Amount: $499,500

Identify areas of lost and abandoned lobster traps collaborating with local fishermen and using sonar; conduct four events about the project to seek fishermen’s knowledge and engagement in the work; remove 4,800 traps; and conduct sonar sampling sharing information about how sonar may improve retrieval in Long Island Sound. Project will remove 240,000 pounds of marine debris to address the goals of the Marine Debris Action Plan for Long Island Sound.

Supporting Soil Health Management Planning and Water Quality Improvement on Farms (CT, MA, NH, VT) (79863)

Grantee: American Farmland Trust

Grant Amount: $480,600
Matching Funds: $160,200
Total Project Amount: $640,700

Develop 25 farm-scale soil health management plans by facilitating three farmer cohorts to engage in soil health planning over 875 acres of farmland for 200 farmers; deliver 10 outreach events; and develop an agricultural water quality benefits tool in the Long Island Sound Watershed of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. Project will advance the adoption of soil health management systems that reduce nutrient pollution from agricultural operations into Long Island Sound.

THRIVING HABITATS AND ABUNDANT WILDLIFE

Multiple States

Share the Shore with Shore and Seabirds in Long Island Sound (CT, NY) (81376)

Grantee: National Audubon Society, Inc. (Connecticut & New York Audubon)

Grant Amount: $70,600
Matching Funds: $17,700
Total Project Amount: $88,300

Deliver social marketing to incentivize 1,000 people especially beachgoers to reduce disturbance to native and migratory birds during summer; evaluate the impact of the marketing on limiting disturbance to birds; monitor bird nesting success; and expand a community-of-practice working on this issue at Milford Point and Long Beach in Connecticut, and Sunken Meadow State Park in New York. Project will benefit iconic bird species of Long Island Sound such as piping plover and American oystercatcher.