The Clean Water Fund
Clean water is a priority for partners across all of Lancaster County, especially since over half of our streams and much of our groundwater are unhealthy. A collaborative group of partners are ready to work across the landscape on restoration projects in priority places that make sense and make a difference in our water quality. This fund will enable local partners to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of those projects using technology, cultural sensitivity, and science-based practices that will get our streams to clean and clear in a generation.
2020 Clean Water Fund grant applications are closed. Look forward to this grant in 2021.
This fund offers two grant opportunities. Both grant opportunities require 1:1 matching funds.
Review the information sheet below for more details, and see if any of these grants might be right for your organization:
The Community Grant Fund and Water Quality Impact Fund exist to fund high-priority, high-impact nutrient and sediment reduction projects. Grant advisers anticipate that direct costs associated with the implementation practices will account for a significant majority of the funding award. Funding for engineering, design, and permitting are also eligible under the 2020 funding opportunity. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate how their project will prioritize collaboration with new Lancaster County partners in an effort to collectively protect water, create habitats, and encourage outdoor exploration. Use the Partners’ Collaborative Mapping Tool to get your project’s restoration opportunity score before applying (lancastercleanwaterpartners.com/collaborative-mapping).
Community Conservation Fund
Grants of $2,500 – $5,000
Intended to stimulate smaller, implementable projects that are lead by locally based conservation organizations, municipalities and community groups.
Water Quality Impact Fund
Grants of $10,000-50,000
Intended to support implementation of large scale, high priority restoration projects that create a measurable impact on water quality.
Evaluation Criteria
• Contributes to Lancaster County’s collaborative, collective effort for clean water
• Demonstrates measurable nutrient and sediment reductions in priority areas in alignment with Lancaster’s CAP (Project is done in headwaters areas, contiguous projects, includes buffer installation on any land that has a stream, etc.)
• Addresses the “big ideas” of county planning and land use, as designated in Places 2040 (www.places2040.com)
• Predicted sustainability of the project through economic and climate changes
View 2020 Clean Water Fund Information Session
Images credited to Michelle Johnsen Photography. Courtesy of the Lancaster Conservancy’s Water Week 2019 album.
We’re here!
Send Allyson Gibson from the Lancaster Clean Water Partners an email.
Send Program Officer Alma Felix an email.
