Yesterday, New York officials announced grant awards totaling over $1.5 million for 39 projects along the Hudson River Estuary to enhance flood and climate resilience, provide environmental education and advance stewardship of natural resources.
The grants are funded by the State's Environmental Protection Fund and administered by the Department of Environmental Conservation's Hudson River Estuary Program.
The grants most relevant to stormwater management and erosion control include the following projects, among others:
Multi-Region
- Riverkeeper - $50,000: Climate Vulnerability Assessment of Waterbodies. Riverkeeper will complete a regional-scale vulnerability assessment to better define climate-related vulnerabilities to waterbodies in municipal boundaries.
- Consensus Building Institute - $49,990: The Hudson River Flood Resilience Network: Developing a Strategic Roadmap for Sustained Operation will deliver a strategic plan for the Hudson River Flood Resilience Network, along with regional guidance documents on flooding.
- Pratt Institute - $43,916: Estuary Access Project: Inventory Database and Interactive Map. Pratt Institute will develop a single gateway to comprehensive, up-to-date information to encourage New Yorkers to access and enjoy the Hudson River.
Capital Region
- Radix Ecological Sustainability Center - $40,000: Renewable Remediation for River Regeneration - Community Science, Equity, and Eco-Justice Education on the Hudson. Radix Ecological Sustainability Center will construct a solar-powered watercraft for education about the Hudson River in the vicinity of the south end of Albany to help Radix youth employees and residents learn about aquatic areas of frequent use and concern.
Greene County
- Village of Catskill - $50,000: Dutchman's Landing Park Boat Launch Access Improvement Project. The village will repair and improve access at the existing boat launch at Dutchman's Landing Park to make the boat ramp and docks safer and more accessible, and protect against erosion and flooding.
- Trout Unlimited - $49,838: Town of Stephentown Road Stream Crossing Management Plan will serve as a guide for future culvert replacements, reconnecting high-quality aquatic habitat and improving community flood resiliency and protecting road infrastructure.
Dutchess County
- Town of Poughkeepsie - $50,000: New Hamburg Flood Study. The town will conduct a study of flooding in New Hamburg, which is within the 100-year floodplain along the Hudson River. The project will include an analysis of the floodplain, in-field surveying, and work on the design of possible solutions to mitigate flooding.
Rockland County
- The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York - $39,088: Hudson River Education: A Voice of Unity. Columbia Lamont-Doherty educators will enhance the Next Generation of Hudson River Educators program, which works with underrepresented high school interns. These students, paid stipends, will interview a wide variety of community residents about their experiences growing up and living along the tidal Hudson and develop stories to be shared through videos and outreach events.
Ulster County
- City of Kingston - $50,000: Community Preservation Plan from existing plans and inventories of natural and historic resources, as well as other sources of GIS data.
Westchester County
- Town of Mount Pleasant - $17,440: Natural Resource Inventory and Wetland Mapping project will complete a Natural Resource Inventory and wetland mapping project for the Town of Mount Pleasant.
- Pace University - $46,612: Building the Capacity of the Pocantico River Watershed Alliance. Pace University will conduct a stakeholder-based assessment of the Pocantico River Watershed by compiling existing information and collecting new data.
- Sarah Lawrence College - $40,000: Teaching the Environment: Discovering Urban Landscapes and Watersheds. The Sarah Lawrence College Center for the Urban River at Beczak and the Child Development Institute will develop, test, and publish curriculum for "Teaching the Environment: Discovering Urban Landscapes and Watersheds."
New York County
- New York Restoration Project - $49,984: Living Shoreline Monitoring Project will evaluate the impact of the living shoreline initiative at Sherman Creek Park by assessing improvements to ecosystem function and shoreline conditions to protect the park from flooding. The monitoring and evaluation study will examine how the living shoreline impacts habitat and biodiversity, the presence of wildlife, carbon sequestration, and improves sedimentation.
- Friends of Hudson River Park - $38,188: Hudson River Park WasteShark- Plastic Pollution Collection and Education Project will purchase and deploy an autonomous aquadrone called a WasteShark, designed to collect floating debris in the water while simultaneously gathering geospatial and water quality information.
Richmond County
- NYC Dept of Parks & Recreation - $50,000: Snug Harbor Green Infrastructure Design. NYC Department of Parks & Recreation will develop designs for a rain garden in Snug Harbor Park on the north shore of Staten Island, to help manage untreated stormwater runoff that discharges directly into Harbor Brook.
The State's Environmental Protection Fund has grown from its original appropriation of $31 million in fiscal year 1994-1995 to $300 million. The Fiscal Year 2022 Enacted Budget sustains the EPF at $300 million, the highest level of funding in the program's history. Appropriations include $40 million for solid waste programs, $90 million for parks and recreation, $151 million for open space programs and $19 million for the climate change mitigation and adaptation program. This investment will provide funding for critical environmental programs such as land acquisition, farmland protection, invasive species prevention and eradication, enhanced recreational access, water quality improvement, and an aggressive environmental justice agenda.
