JOB POSTINGS:
Ulster County Department of the Environment: Environmental Planner
The Ulster County Department of the Environment’s Environmental Planner will primarily perform work under a cooperative agreement with Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County (CCEUC) that enhances the capacity of Ulster County departments. The position supports CCEUC in meeting deliverables of an agreement between the City of New York and CCEUC for the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program (AWSMP). The Environmental Planner’s work will advance the overall goals of creating flood resilient communities and protecting water quality in the Ashokan Watershed. The Environmental Planner will assist in providing local coordination, technical assistance, and implementation for flood hazard / flood response mitigation planning in the Ashokan watershed and will coordinate these activities with the Ulster County government’s plans and activities. The Environmental Planner will work with Ulster County staff, staff of the Ashokan Watershed Stream Management Program, local municipal officials, and others to perform the work.
GRANTS & TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE:
Hudson River Estuary Program: Water Quality Monitoring in the Hudson River Estuary solicitation for unassessed streams and rivers due January 14
The Hudson River Estuary Program is soliciting recommendations from applicants on the selection of 1-3 unassessed stream or river segments to be monitored. The monitoring partnership will benefit NYS by creating a baseline condition assessment of the selected waterbodies, while benefiting local partners by providing accurate water quality data that can assist with local land use planning, watershed management, and community outreach. Stream segments must be located within the Hudson River Estuary Program Grant Boundary. They can be found on the Hudson Valley Natural Resource Mapper. There will be a pre-application webinar on Thursday, December 16 at 2:00 pm to provide more background, answer questions and to provide guidance.
New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation and Health: Applications for Free Technical Assistance for Municipalities on Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2)
The New York State Departments of Environmental Conservation (DEC) and Health (DOH) have announced a new initiative to assist municipalities with assessing and supporting drinking water source protection programs. The Drinking Water Source Protection Program (DWSP2) is a state-run program created to assist municipalities with proactively protecting their drinking water sources. The goal is to help municipalities develop and implement their own unique drinking water source protection plan for the source(s) of their drinking water. In order to do so, the State is looking for communities to work with a technical assistance provider (TA provider), free of charge, to develop a DWSP2 Plan for their source of drinking water. TA providers will work with the community every step of the way, using the DWSP2 Framework, to develop a community specific DWSP2 Plan. As a result of this program, participating municipalities can use their newly developed DWSP2 plan to start implementing protection measures.
NYS Water Resources Institute: Call for Water Resources Research Project Pre-Proposals due January 14
The New York State Water Resources Institute (WRI) and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) invite researchers to submit pre-proposals for applied research, outreach, and policy analysis to WRI in support of WRI’s Statewide Water Research and Outreach Agenda and the state’s watershed action agenda goals. The primary objective of this funding opportunity is to provide research and assessment support to watershed-based management, policy, outreach, and education. Proposals must be submitted by researchers affiliated with a university or college based
in New York and be qualified to conduct research through their institution's grant application process. Individual projects should budget for between $10,000 and $40,000 (direct costs), with potential for additional funds if deemed necessary and approved by WRI. This WRI funding call is soliciting preliminary proposals (pre-proposals). Following the review process, WRI will either encourage or discourage the submission of full proposals. Applicants who are encouraged to create full proposals will be required to first engage in one or more scoping conversations with WRI staff.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) & Wildlife Habitat Council (WHC): Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration Grant Program 2022 applications due January 25
The Five Star and Urban Waters Restoration grant program seeks to develop community capacity to sustain local natural resources for future generations by providing modest financial assistance to diverse local partnerships focused on improving water quality, watersheds and the species and habitats they support. This program will award approximately $2.6 million in grants nationwide. Projects include a variety of ecological improvements along with targeted community outreach, education and stewardship. Ecological improvements may include one or more of the following: wetland, riparian, forest and coastal habitat restoration; wildlife conservation, community tree canopy enhancement, water quality monitoring and green infrastructure best management practices for managing runoff.
National Fish and Wildlife Foundation: Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund applications due February 3
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), in coordination with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), announces the 2021 Emergency Coastal Resilience Fund (ECRF) to support projects that increase the resilience of coastal communities impacted by hurricanes and wildfires in 2020 and 2021. Funding for this program was appropriated under the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, 2022 (PL 117-43). The fund supports conservation projects that create and restore natural systems to help protect coastal communities from the impacts of coastal storms, floods, sea-level rise, inundation, coastal erosion, wildfires and associated landslides/debris flows, and enable communities to recover more quickly from these events, all while improving habitats for fish and wildlife species. Eligible counties include Ulster, Sullivan, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester, and New York City.
Hudson River Valley Greenway; Community Grant applications due February 4, May 6, September 2, and November 4
The Hudson River Valley Greenway Grant Program provides matching grants to Greenway Communities and Compact Communities. Greenway Communities are eligible to receive up to $10,000 to develop plans or projects consistent with the five Greenway criteria: natural and cultural resource protection, economic development, public access, regional planning, and heritage and environmental education. Higher amounts are awarded for intermunicipal projects. This grant program is open to municipalities that are within the designated Greenway area and have adopted a local board resolution to become a designated “Greenway Community.”
