Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper
Amount: $27000
Project Title: Transforming the Buffalo River Great Lakes Area of Concern
Project Description: Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper will make a video series telling the story of the Buffalo River being declared dead and now nearing delisting as an Area of Concern. These videos will help garner the support to getting it officially delisted.
Freshwater Future
Amount: $27000
Project Title: Fighting Misinformation and Disinformation About Water Pollution
Project Description: Freshwater Future will be fighting misinformation about water pollution, between the dangers of lead in drinking water to the threats of mining and nutrient pollution, providing science-based information to motivate people to push for stronger policies.
Milwaukee Water Commons
Amount: $27000
Project Title: Milwaukee Water Commons Capacity Building
Project Description: Milwaukee Water Commons will develop their branding, website, and collateral materials as they work to build environmental and climate resiliency in Milwaukee and increase community access to influence policy-making and decisions.
River Alliance of Wisconsin
Amount: $27000
Project Title: River Alliance Website Information Architecture Improvement
Project Description: River Alliance of Wisconsin seeks to update their website to better provide information on how to advocate for river restoration and clean water protection, and issues such as innovative conservation agriculture, concerns with metallic mining, and resiliency.
The Freshwater Lab
Amount: $27000
Project Title: Elevating A New Generation of Water Leaders
Project Description: The Freshwater Lab will launch a digital campaign celebrating the accomplishments of their first ten years of existence. This campaign will elevate emergent Great Lakes work, uplift young leaders, and encourage young people to engage more with their local watershed with the goal of prompting creative solutions to present problems.
Rescue Lake Simcoe Coalition
Amount: $2500
Project Title: Ontario Salt Pollution Coalition-Outreach and Engagement
Project Description:
Sterling Water Stewards
Amount: $3000
Project Title: Hydrogeological Services
Project Description: Sterling Water Stewards seeks support for professional hydrogeological services related to the upcoming environmental review for a proposed microchip manufacturing facility, which would provide a basis for other facilities that are likely to arise throughout the Great Lakes.
Uniquely Free 2B Lead Free
Amount: $3000
Project Title: Community Engagement for Lead Free Water
Project Description: Uniquely Free 2B Lead Free will use funding to purchase and distribute lead filters throughout
their community, continuing their fight to end childhood lead poisoning in New York.
Completely Community Coalition
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Protect-A-Drain
Project Description: To help prevent repeated street flooding, Completely Community Coalition will raise awareness and encourage residents to monitor local drains and alert the municipality if drains are blocked and flooding arises.
Genesee RiverWatch, Inc
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Re-establish the Black Creek Watershed Coalition
Project Description: Genesee River Watch seeks funding to re-establish the Black Creek Watershed Coalition through reviewing the local Watershed Management Plan and implementing important projects from the plan to promote water quality.
Michigan Against Atomic Waste
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Protect Water Near Hazardous Waste Landfill
Project Description: With water from a hazardous waste landfill being discharged into a local river, Michigan Against Atomic Waste seeks funding to reform protections and close regulatory gaps, hold polluters accountable, and increase community engagement.
Oscoda Citizens for Clean Water/Need Our Water
Amount: $4500
Project Title: Stop the Bleeding of PFAS Contamination
Project Description: In order to stop the flow of contaminated groundwater from a former Air Force base, Oscoda Citizens for Clean Water will work with polluters and State regulators on remediation and clean-up efforts, as well as educating the public on health risks.
Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed Association
Amount: $1000
Project Title: Chemical Monitoring of Lake Erie Tributaries
Project Description: Pennsylvania Lake Erie Watershed Association will be using results from local water testing to build collaboration among stakeholders, encourage advocacy, and implementing solutions.
Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Strengthening Community Stewardship to Protect South Branch Waters
Project Description: Pilsen Environmental Rights and Reform Organization will strengthen underserved communities? connection to the Chicago River and amplify their voices in decision-making processes, advocating for greater community sovereignty over how the river is used and treated, while holding regulators and agencies accountable.
Project NEED Foundation
Amount: $2500
Project Title: Water ‘Bout Youth
Project Description: Project NEED seeks funding to encourage youth to get involved in local government and water projects, helping students learn how to make their voices heard and encouraging advocacy at the local level.
Protect the Porkies
Amount: $1000
Project Title: Establishing the Rights of Lake Superior: A Working Group
Project Description: To better protect Lake Superior from projects like mining, Protect the Porkies will create a campaign to establish a Lake Superior Bill of Rights, following the Rights of Nature principle, making it harder for corporations to pollute or mistreat the waters.
Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Enforcing Wetland Protections at the Kalamazoo River Mouth
Project Description: After a developer appealed the State?s denial of project permits, Saugatuck Dunes Coastal Alliance will be working with local tribes to defend the denial and ensure the wetlands, dunes, and groundwater are protected.
Semillitas Spanish in Nature
Amount: $1000
Project Title: Water: Past, Present, and Future
Project Description: Semillitas Spanish in Nature will host a bilingual family program to build hands-on awareness of community water stewardship to improve water quality and participants will select and implement a tangible initiative to protect water resources.
Water Insecurity Correction Coalition, Inc.
Amount: $1000
Project Title: Upstate Water Contamination – Hudson River Project
Project Description: With the threat of toxic nuclear waste entering the Hudson River, Water Insecurity Correction Coalition will educate residents to help them prevent water contamination.
Water Watchers
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Mobilizing Diverse Ontario Communities for Salt Pollution Action
Project Description: With recent momentum on reducing road salt pollution in Ontario, Water Watchers will broaden their reach, ensuring they have more BIPOC and youth involvement going forward, and to provide better resources for community action.
Wood St. Collective
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Neighborhood Engagement for Public Access Point on the Chicago River
Project Description: With almost no public access points in the Southwest neighborhoods of Chicago, Wood Street Collective will campaign to change this, connecting more people with water, and advocating for the importance of stormwater management, contamination cleanup and prevention, and habitat restoration.
Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Expanding Grassroots Exploratory Mine Monitoring
Project Description: With mining ramping up, Yellow Dog Watershed Preserve wishes to expand their monitoring program that tracks mining activity to include more of the Upper Peninsula, while increasing public participation in reporting.
Blue Fish Canada
Amount: $2000
Project Title: Engage, Recruit, Equip and Advance Great Lakes Fish Health
Project Description: Blue Fish Canada will engage indigenous and recreational fishers, training volunteers to engage in advocacy and developing campaigns to strengthen the Great Lakes biodiversity, focusing on public and private sector policies, increasing public outreach.
Bridges//Puentes Justice Collective of the Southeast
Amount: $2800
Project Title: Water Heroes: Finding and Fighting Lead in Our Homes
Project Description: To combat lead contamination in Southeast Chicago?s drinking water, Bridges//Puentes will produce educational coloring books to teach families about lead contamination and host workshops to empower families to push for drinking water improvements.
Cayuga Lake Watershed Network Inc
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Finger Lakes Education Day on Harmful Algal Blooms
Project Description: CLWN will host a harmful algal bloom day to bring together scientists, leaders, and community members to provide state legislators and agency officials with educational formation about the root causes of harmful algal blooms and mitigation strategies.
Citizens for a Safe & Clean Lake Superior
Amount: $1500
Project Title: Extractive Industry Monitoring in Lake Superior?s Watershed
Project Description: CSCLS will monitor mining activity in the Upper Peninsula including analyzing permit applications, government grant proposals, and other activities from existing and proposed mines and will mobilize the public when activities pose risks.
Cole Lead Safe & Healthy Homes
Amount: $3600
Project Title: Lead Safe and Healthy Homes Outreach and Education Program
Project Description: COLE will host a five day training and canvas blitz with parents and children affected by lead poisoning. Training will consist of education, canvas training, handing out lead filters, going door to door with parents, and getting other parents involved.
Environment North
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Impact Assessment for Proposed Transportation of High Level Nuclear Waste
Project Description: Concerned about the transportation, temporary shallow storage, and abandonment of 7.2 million waste nuclear bundles and with an upcoming Impact Assessment, Environment North will mobilize the public and hire a consultant to ensure their voices are heard during the EIA.
Friends of the North Pikes Creek Wetlands, Inc.
Amount: $1500
Project Title: Engaging the Community in Forest Improvement to Protect Lake Superior
Project Description: Friends of the North Pikes Creek Wetlands will engage the community in their five year project to protect their local headwaters from emerald ash borer infestation.
Gary Advocates for Responsible Development, Inc.(GARD)
Amount: $1500
Project Title: Community Assessment and Action Toward Greening Gary?s Shoreline
Project Description: In the heavily industrialized shoreline of Gary, Indiana, GARD will work with the community to implement green infrastructure to mitigate climate change and industrial impacts on groundwater and stormwater runoff and revitalize abandoned properties.
Great Lakes Water Protector Network
Amount: $2000
Project Title: Expansion of the 2025 Pipe Out Paddle Up Event
Project Description: Great Lakes Water Protector Network will host a Pipe Out Paddle Up event to engage and educate the public on the dangers of a local pipeline, promote oversight, and share information about the pipeline.
Lake Erie Waterkeeper
Amount: $3000
Project Title: Correcting Confined Animal Feeding Numbers
Project Description: Seeking to reduce phosphorus runoff from CAFOs, LEW wishes to update satellite studies to count animal units in counties in Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana, to better show the amount of manure runoff occurring and push to adjust permits appropriately.
Michigan Hydro Relicensing Coalition
Amount: $5000
Project Title: River Restoration Through Hydropower Planning
Project Description: As 13 aging hydropower projects are under review to determine their future, MHRC aims to engage in the planning process, advocate for rivers and protect the environment through improving water quality, maintenance commitments, and potential dam removal.
Native American Educational Technologies, Inc.
Amount: $3600
Project Title: Strengthening Community Networking to Protect Water
Project Description: Native American Educational Technologies will host events to address plans for a local pipeline reroute, strengthen relationships, and build advocacy.
Northwatch
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Making Connections for Water Protection Along Lake Huron?s Nuclear North Shore
Project Description: Northwatch will engage community members and local tribes to advocate for improved management of nuclear storage and radioactive waste on Lake Huron and to impact regulators? priority setting in an upcoming review.
Save Our Water (SOH2O)
Amount: $2000
Project Title: Advocacy and Education of Groundwater Standards for PFAS
Project Description: Save Our Water will build resources to support per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances groundwater standards in the State of Wisconsin and strengthen community groups protecting groundwater.
Talking Rivers, Inc.
Amount: $2800
Project Title: Listening to Nature Toolkit and Advocacy
Project Description: Talking Rivers will finalize, share, and implement their Listening to Nature Toolkit, to help organizations better consider ecosystems and watersheds in the decision-making process and how to incorporate the rights of nature in their work.
WaterLegacy
Amount: $5000
Project Title: Preventing Mine Permit Reissuance
Project Description: With the threat of a rebranded copper-nickel mine reviving their permit and resurging on the shore of Lake Superior, WaterLegacy is organizing to promote advocacy to the Minnesota DNR to deny permits and block transfers of any existing permits.
Williams County Alliance
Amount: $2760
Project Title: St. Joseph River Watershed Monitoring Project
Project Description: With confined cattle operations expanding, Williams County Alliance will gather evidence on the water quality of the St Joseph River and its tributaries to show legislators that there is a need for added regulations and permitting requirements.
Benton Harbor Community Water Council
Amount: $10,000
Project Title: Faucet Installation & Water Delivery
Project Description: The funds will be used for faucet installations and to deliver water to the Benton Harbor community.
East Michigan Environmental Action Council
Amount: $258.78
Project Title: Heating System
Project Description: Funds will be used to help them get a heating system in their shared space.
Great Lakes Water Protector Network
Amount: $750
Project Title: Support for Educational Program
Project Description: The funds will be used to support frontline environmental justice organizers and help build their capacity.
Ontario Headwaters Institute
Amount: $750
Project Title: Promoting Physical Integrity & Watershed SOG
Project Description: The funds will be used for general support for promoting physical integrity and watershed security in the Great Lakes.
Oscoda Citizens for Clean Water/Need Our Water
Amount: $750
Project Title: Support for Pirates & Mermaids Festival
Project Description: The funds will be used for general support to raise awareness and promote action against PFAS contamination at a local festival.
Project NEED Foundation
Amount: $2000
Project Title: Benton Harbor Green Space
Project Description: Continuation of work to create green spaces for youth and families to enjoy Benton Harbor.
Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision
Amount: $750
Project Title: Water Main Break Support
Project Description: General support to assist residents deal with the issues of a break in a water main.
Sustainable Community Farms
Amount: $4000
Project Title: Special Opportunity Grant for Flood Focus
Project Description: Sustainable Community Farms will train and engage community members to collect data on flooding in their neighborhoods and use the information to advocate for community-driven
solutions.
Water is Life
Amount: $2500
Project Title: Water Is Life Festival 2025
Project Description: Funds will be used to support the 2025 Water Is Life Festival in Petoskey, Michigan on August 30th.
Wisdom Institute
Amount: $500
Project Title: Healing Justice Advocacy Day
Project Description: Funding will be used to support the Healing Justice Advocacy Day at the State Capitol.
Lake Superior Watershed Conservancy
Amount: $1400
Project Title: Contracting Wastewater Expert
Project Description: Funds will be used to hire an expert consultant to assist in their efforts to protect a local river from a wastewater treatment plant discharging sewage waste into the river.
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