MORELAND HILLS, Ohio — Dominion Energy and Western Reserve Land Conservancy are teaming up to offer grant funding to local watershed groups working to reduce pollution in our rivers, lakes and streams. Now in its seventh year, the Watershed Mini Grant Program has already distributed more than $280,000 supporting water quality projects.
Understanding that many watershed groups work with a skeleton staff on very limited budgets, the Watershed Mini Grant Program helps fill a void and reduces some of the financial burdens these small watershed groups face. Grants are made available to eligible watershed groups for activities designed to promote and maintain the health of Ohio watersheds.
Proposals will be accepted from working watershed groups only and must be located within the state of Ohio and within a county served by Dominion Energy or the Land Conservancy. Only projects and/or project components that are not yet completed are eligible to apply.
There are three grant categories:
• Marketing, Promotions and Outreach (maximum request amount $1,500): Grant funds for marketing, promotions and outreach may be used for materials needed to raise awareness for the work of the watershed group, which could include flyers, brochures, web development, advertisements and hands-on educational materials.
• Healthy Watershed Projects (maximum request amount $2,500): Grant funds may be used to cover specific restoration or water quality project expenses. Special consideration will be given for proposals that involve partnerships or volunteers to complete important projects such as tree plantings, stream restorations and river clean-ups. Priority will be given to projects where the majority of grant funds are used to purchase project supplies or materials, i.e., tools, trees, shrubs, shovels, bags, gloves, etc.
• Spotlight Project (maximum request amount $5,000): One special grant award will be made in support of a larger water quality or restoration project. To be considered, the project must include at least 10% matching funds. Higher match amounts will be viewed more favorably.
To be eligible for the Spotlight Award, applicants must be located in a county served by both the Land Conservancy and Dominion Energy. Counties include: Allen, Ashland, Ashtabula, Auglaize, Belmont, Carroll, Columbiana, Cuyahoga, Erie, Geauga, Guernsey, Hardin, Harrison, Holmes, Huron, Jefferson, Knox, Lake, Lorain, Mahoning, Medina, Mercer, Monroe, Muskingum, Noble, Ottawa, Paulding, Portage, Putnam, Sandusky, Shelby, Stark, Summit, Trumbull, Tuscarawas, Van Wert, Washington, Wayne and Wood.
