2024-2026 Watershed Grants Guidelines
Kentucky Waterways Alliance (KWA) is pleased to announce our 2024-2026 watershed grants. This pilot program will provide seed grant funding assistance in all of Kentucky’s seven major river basins to organizations that are interested in doing their part to protect and restore their rivers, streams, and watersheds. Grant funding will be awarded to at least one project per river basin. Projects must address nonpoint source (NPS) pollution, which includes pollution that cannot be directly attributed to a distinct source. NPS pollution is unlike Point Source Pollution, which occurs when pollutants are discharged from distinct, confined conveyances, such as a pipe, well or even a boat. NPS pollution is caused by rainfall or snowmelt moving over and through the ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters (EPA). Some NPS pollutants include oil and gas on roads and driveways, fertilizers on lawns, pesticides on food crops, soap from car washes, and dirt from construction sites. NPS pollution can also come from cattle in streams, failing septic systems, or collapsing stream banks. As these different pollutants build up in the water, our water quality declines. A decline in water quality is bad not only for the plants and animals that live in the water, but also for our drinking water. KWA grant funding can support stream cleanups, tree plantings, educational signage, water festivals, water quality sampling, rain gardens, rain barrels, and many more beneficial activities and best management practices. These are examples but by no means an exhaustive list. KWA is committed to supporting and empowering underserved communities and will utilize the EPA EJ screening tool in the grant award selection process. Environmental justice (EJ) is the fair treatment and meaningful involvement of all people regardless of race, color, national origin, or income with respect to the development, implementation and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations and policies. *To learn more about the EPA’s environmental justice information, see this link. If you are interested in addressing NPS Pollution in your area, please consider applying for this grant opportunity:
The grant application and grant guidelines can be found by clicking on the "Download" buttons at the top of this webpage. Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact Laura Gregory to discuss your project or you can join KWA’s optional virtual seed grant workshop. Questions? Please contact Laura Gregory, Kentucky Waterways Alliance’s Watershed Program Director, at laura@kwalliance.org This work was funded in part by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under §319(h) of the Clean Water Act. |