MakingWaves - News From the Division of Water

In This Issue:

• Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Request for Proposals
• Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Request for Proposals
• Land Preservation to Protect Long Island's Sole Source Aquifer
• Annual Water Withdrawal Reporting

Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Request for Proposals

The Great Lakes Commission is now accepting proposals for the Great Lakes Sediment and Nutrient Reduction Program (GLSNRP) to fund projects that reduce nutrients and sediments entering the Great Lakes. Consistent with Focus Area 3 of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Action Plan III (PDF), this year's GLSNRP will fund projects focused on reducing nutrients from three different sources: agricultural nonpoint sources, stormwater runoff, and Great Lakes shoreline or streambank erosion.

Proposals are due by 5:00 p.m. on April 16, 2021. For more information, visit the Great Lakes Commission's GLSNRP webpage. You can also register to attend a webinar about the GLSNRP to be held March 12, 2021 at 10:00 a.m. 

Chesapeake Bay Small Watershed Grants Request for Proposals 

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the federal-state Chesapeake Bay Program partnership, is soliciting implementation, planning, and technical assistance proposals under the Small Watershed Grants Program to restore water quality and habitats in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. All projects must occur wholly within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The proposals are due by April 22, 2021. More information is available on NFWF’s Small Watershed Grants 2021 Request for Proposals webpage. Learn about New York's connection to the Chesapeake Bay on DEC's website. 

Land Preservation to Protect Long Island's Sole Source Aquifer  

DEC, Peconic Land Trust (PLT), and town of Brookhaven have announced the acquisition of a parcel of land in the hamlet of Moriches that will help protect Long Island's groundwater, the sole drinking water source for millions of residents. PLT paid $660,000 for the 13.2-acre parcel in Moriches near the headwaters of the Forge River. DEC grant funding covered approximately three-quarters of the acquisition costs, and PLT partnered with the town of Brookhaven to cover the 25 percent local match for this parcel.

Funding for the acquisition comes from a $2.3 million DEC Water Quality Improvement Project grant awarded in December 2017 to PLT for implementation of a Regional Aquifer Protection Land Acquisition Program. The property was identified by the town of Brookhaven as a priority for conservation.

Annual Water Withdrawal Reporting

The DEC Water Withdrawal Reporting Program is currently receiving water withdrawal reporting data for 2020. Reporting is required by March 31 each year for non-agricultural facilities that have a withdrawal capacity of 100,000 gallons or more per day and agricultural facilities that registered or reported their existing withdrawals to the DEC prior to February 15, 2012. For additional information, contact Water Withdrawal Reporting staff at 518-402-8182 or AWQRSDEC@dec.ny.gov.