Local river stewards get federal grants

Vicky Klukkert, The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y.
·3 min read

Sep. 21—The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation announced 41 grant awards, including one along the entire Delaware River and one along the Beaverkill River, during a Zoom press conference Monday.

The Delaware River Basin Commission was awarded a $499,126 grant according to the media release. The commission will spend an additional $1.1 million to research water management through the completion of three studies focusing on water quality, contaminants of emerging concern and future water availability, the release said. The project will be for planning efforts including consideration of future water supply projects, wastewater assimilative capacity, evaluation of pass-by flows, conservation releases, consumptive use mitigation triggers, freshwater flow needs to address sea level rise, and potential flow targets, the release said.

Catskill Mountainkeeper was awarded a $75,000 grant and will provide $75,442 in matching funds to protect the Eastern brook trout habitat in the Beaverkill Valley. The organization is fighting the hemlock woolly adelgid forest pest, which in turn will protect and maintain trout habitat and recreational opportunities along the river.

U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, who formed the Congressional Delaware River Watershed Caucus with U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., praised the grant awards during the press conference. He said the river is an economic driver in his district and generates $400 million for the local economy every year. The river touches 23 Congressional districts and generates $25 billion in economic activities and $21 billion in ecosystem goods and services, he said. The grants awarded will help small businesses, help protect the area from climate change and help ensure kids can go fly fishing with their parents, he said.

The $11.5 million grants and the $13.5 million matching funds will provide on-the-ground benefits to farms, wetlands and urban areas, will remove barrier dams for spawning fish and open 1,500 acres of land up to the public in the four-state region the Delaware River traverses Amanda Basso, Northeast regional director of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation said.

The grants were awarded through two programs administered by NFWF: the Delaware River Restoration Fund, funded by the William Penn Foundation; and the Delaware Watershed Conservation Fund, funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the media release said. The William Penn Foundation donated $2 million, the release said.

The DWCF was created in 2018, and is funded by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to achieve the goals of the Delaware River Basin Conservation Act, which was passed in 2016 the media release said. The act guides and supports federal, state, regional, and local partners to collaboratively identify, prioritize, and implement habitat restoration and conservation activities within the watershed.

Since 2016, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service has partnered with 32 regional partners to create resilient habitats for fish and wildlife, revitalize the urban landscape and help the economy, Wendi Weber, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's North Atlantic-Appalachian Regional Director said. The Delaware River Watershed will be the model for the Chesapeake Watershed Investments for Landscape Defense Act that was passed in October 2020, she said.

The Delaware River provides drinking water to 15 million people, including people living in New York City and Philadelphia and is renown for for its wildlife and fishing.

This is the sixth year the NFWF has awarded funds for Delaware River watershed projects, the release said. Previous grants awarded in Delaware County provided funds to restore Sands Creek in Hancock; improved the habitat for wood thrush and cerulean warbler in the northeastern portion of the county; restored five streams in Hancock, Deposit and Colchester; restored the Cadosia Creek and East Branch Delaware River in East Branch; improved aquatic habitat in the towns of Deposit and Colchester and removed and replaced two antiquated culverts in the town of Delhi to help trout. The previous grants totaled about $2.2 million according to figures shared by the NFWF.

Vicky Klukkert, staff writer, can be reached at vklukkert@thedailystar.com or 607-441-7221. Follow her @DS_VickyK on Twitter.