Chi-Cal Rivers Funds $1.1 million in Grants

Chi-Cal Rivers Fund partners selected five projects to receive $1.1 million in grant funding that will help improve and enhance waterways in the Chicago and Calumet region. With a focus on reducing stormwater runoff, enhancing fish and wildlife habitat, and improving public-use opportunities, this investment will support community-driven projects that benefit the people and wildlife of the region. Grant recipients will match the new grant funding with an additional $2.5 million, for a total on-the-ground impact of $3.6 million.

Administered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), the Fund is a partnership among ArcelorMittal, The Chicago Community Trust, Crown Family Philanthropies, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, the Joyce Foundation, Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Forest Service, and the Wrigley Company Foundation. The partnership began in 2013, and the $1.1 million announced today marks the Fund's second annual set of grants.

The five grants announced will help improve storm water management in Gary, Indinia and Blue Island, IIllinois by adding public park space in Chicago, enhancing prairie and wetland habitat along the north branch of the Chicago River, and improving fish habitat in the main stem of the Chicago River. 

The funded projects will:

• install more than 242,000 sq ft of green stormwater infrastructure
• add more than 2.9 million gallons of stormwater storage capacity
• add 4 acres of new public park space
• restore and enhance 178 acres of wetland and upland habitat
• improve approximately 4,600 feet of in-stream and riparian habitat

For more information on how the grant money will be spent: www.nfwf.org

Source: Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago