Michigan awards $600K for watershed organizations’ conservation, education

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) announced 19 grants totaling approximately $600,000 for projects that will support watershed organizations with conservation and educational efforts.

The grants are issued by EGLE's Nonpoint Source (NPS) Program, which helps local stakeholders reduce pollution and excess runoff by supporting efforts to develop and launch watershed management plans. The NPS program typically issues three requests for proposals each year with the next available later in August.

Some of the funded projects’ activities include support for watershed organizations and outreach activities. The outreach includes activities for a variety of watershed issues, including new efforts for underrepresented audiences, installing best management practices to control nonpoint sources of pollution, developing watershed management plan elements, water quality and aquatic life monitoring, assessment of environmental justice issues and audiences, and desktop and field inventories of nonpoint sources of pollution.

The Watershed Council Support grants are funded under Michigan's Public Act 166 of 2022. Grants are limited to $40,000 per applicant, and the projects will be completed within a year of receiving the grants.

The funding was approved for the following Michigan-based organizations:

• Adrian: River Raisin Watershed Council, $39,940.
• Allegan: Allegan Conservation District, $40,000.
• Alma: Healthy Pine River, $31,400.
• Beulah: Benzie Conservation District, $32,338.
• Big Rapids: Muskegon River Watershed Assembly, $25,729.
• Camden: Little Long Lake IN-MI Watershed Association, Inc., $12,750.
• Gaylord: Huron Pines, $12,000.
• Grand Rapids: Kent Conservation District, $40,000.
• Hancock: Copper Country ISD/Lake Superior Stewardship Initiative, $39,419.
• Harbor Springs: Great Lakes Stewardship Initiative, $39,955.
• Kalamazoo: Kalamazoo River Watershed Council, $39,931.
• Marquette: Superior Watershed Partnership, $40,000.
• Petoskey: Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council, $39,850.
• Plymouth: Friends of the Rouge, $39,987.
• Rochester Hills: Clinton River Watershed Council, $18,750.
• Saginaw: Saginaw Conservation District, $16,075.
• Saginaw: Saginaw County Health Department, $19,960.
• Taylor: Friends of the Detroit River, $39,988.
• Twin Lake: Muskegon Conservation District, $36,711.

EGLE said that it had received a total of 52 applications requesting over $1.8 million in response to its  request for proposals.