Grantee: Alliance for the Mystic River Watershed
Grant Amount: $419,900Matching Funds: $234,900Total Project Amount: $654,800
Launch a robust engagement effort and planning process throughout four municipalities and two Tribal Nations within Mystic, Connecticut in order to initiate efforts to improve the watershed health along the Mystic River Watershed. Project will develop a community and stakeholder supported EPA Nine Element watershed-based plan, which will strive to address water quality impairments and resilience challenges in the watershed.
Grantee: Brookfield Water Pollution Control Authority
Grant Amount: $1,500,000Matching Funds: $750,000Total Project Amount: $2,250,000
Construct a sewer extension to 91 parcels located on low-lying lots along the Still River in Brookfield, Connecticut, which are not conducive to the use of On-Site Wastewater Treatment Systems. Project will reduce 34 pounds of nitrogen, reduce 24 pounds of phosphorus, and reduce potential risks to public health and wildlife habitats due to water quality issues.
Grantee: Northwest Conservation District, Inc.
Grant Amount: $390,300Matching Funds: $226,600Total Project Amount: $616,900
Expand the manure storage capacity on Laurelbrook Farm in East Canaan, Connecticut through the installation of a 3,997,800-gallon storage tank. Project will reduce 138,205 pounds of nitrogen, reduce 110,710 pounds of phosphorus and enhance outreach opportunities for the public, students and the farming community to learn about sustainable manure management.
Grantee: Eastern Connecticut Conservation District, Inc.
Construct a 3.8-acre concrete sileage bunker with a sileage leachate collection system at the Speilman Farm in Sprague, Connecticut. Project will remove the risks associated with leachate, reduce 2,873 pounds of nitrogen and reduce 439 pounds of phosphorus from the dairy farm.
Grantee: Sea Research Foundation, Inc.
Grant Amount: $172,100Matching Funds: $134,200Total Project Amount: $306,300
Implement an innovative wastewater denitrifying process to replace the industry-standard water filtration systems at the Mystic Aquarium in Connecticut. Project will reduce 375 pounds of nitrogen from the aquarium’s nitrate-nitrogen output, educate the public on how to reduce their own nitrogen footprint through concurrent workshops, signage and field trips, and produce five plans to share with other zoos and aquariums whose discharge water also impact the Long Island Sound.
Grantee: The Nature Conservancy
Grant Amount: $384,200Matching Funds: $192,500Total Project Amount: $576,700
Build an inventory of the locations of crossings within the Long Island Sound Coastal Watershed Boundary in Connecticut, train practitioners in North Atlantic Aquatic Connectivity Collaborative protocols and begin evaluating crossings for aquatic connectivity in southeastern Connecticut. Project will establish a joint effort between eight community organizations and agencies to adopt a coordinated approach to assessing fish passage in Connecticut.
Grantee: Town of Stonington
Grant Amount: $1,255,000Matching Funds: $3,454,000Total Project Amount: $4,709,000
Employ nature-based solutions to repurpose a brownfield site in Mystic, Connecticut into a park with a living shoreline through the engagement of local community leaders and organizations to implement a transformative living shoreline model. Project will construct a 0.2 acre living shoreline that restores the coastal habitats and protects the coastal community of the Mystic River shoreline.
Grantee: University of Connecticut
Grant Amount: $82,900Matching Funds: $41,500Total Project Amount: $124,400
Remove invasive plant species and replant native coastal vegetation to restore the riparian habitat along the nature trail at the Ocean Beach Park in New London, Connecticut. Project will restore and reopen public access to 3.5 acres of critical coastal habitat bordering the Alewife Cove and Long Island Sound estuaries.
Grantee: Town of Old Saybrook
Grant Amount: $323,400Matching Funds: $191,500Total Project Amount: $514,900
Conduct a feasibility analysis for restoring the degraded Chalker Beach Marsh and mitigate erosion of Cold Spring Brook marsh, examine potential residential neighborhood flood mitigation strategies and evaluate alternative concepts to restore the Cold Spring Brook marsh. Project will provide Chalker Beach marsh restoration plan and design alternatives, concept-level neighborhood-scale flood mitigation strategies and a concept-level Cold Spring Brook marsh erosion control/restoration practices.
Grant Amount: $165,100Matching Funds: $103,000Total Project Amount: $268,100
Engage 120 high school students from Stonington, Connecticut in both classroom-based and field trip-based environmental education programs geared toward environmental issues impacting the water quality of the Long Island Sound. Project will provide students with conservation-based STEM skills, understanding of community-level solutions and empower the next generation of environmental stewards for a more resilient Long Island Sound.
Grant Amount: $162,000Matching Funds: $81,400Total Project Amount: $243,400
Implement the MyCoast coastal monitoring, community science tool in New London, Groton, and Stonington to capture photos of flooding and high tide events through submissions by community members. Project will provide a means to capture photo locations and compare water level measurements using local tide gauges, offer evidence of flooding in the area and provide the community with the most accurate information about where to prioritize resilience actions.
Grantee: New England Science & Sailing Foundation
Grant Amount: $79,400Matching Funds: $40,300Total Project Amount: $119,700
Provide hands-on experiential learning activities for 760 secondary school students, professional development activities that will bolster local capacity and deliver enhanced Long Island Sound oyster lessons through various community and school-based events within coastal Connecticut. Project will educate students and communities on the ecological significance of oysters on the water quality of the Long Island Sound.
Grantee: Farmington River Watershed Association, Inc.
Grant Amount: $75,000Matching Funds: $54,700Total Project Amount: $129,700
Introduce the River Smart environmental education program to the Farmington River Watershed, which educates communities on stormwater pollution and provides hands-on engagement through the implementation of nature-based solutions, including green infrastructure. Project will construct 4,500 square feet of green infrastructure through the installation of a rain garden/riparian buffer and a bioswale and engage 25,000 people through workshops, volunteer days, field trips, cleanups and social media.
Grantee: Connecticut Audubon Society
Grant Amount: $247,100Matching Funds: $174,900Total Project Amount: $422,000
Educate and engage 1,600 students and their teachers from 15 elementary and middle schools in Connecticut through hands-on marine debris prevention activities. Project will educate students on marine debris prevention, coastal ecology and the Long Island Sound in the classroom, conduct a coastal cleanup at a location within their community as well as design and implement a schoolwide debris prevention awareness and action campaign.
Descriptions of all 31 grants totaling $12 million awarded in 2024 are also available in a fact sheet.
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