New Jersey

Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissioners
Strategic Use of Nature-based Infrastructure to Manage Untreated Runoff (NJ)
Install green stormwater infrastructure projects and restore forested wetlands in the Kirkwood Cohansey Cluster geography of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. Project will include restoration of forested wetlands, installation of a bioretention system, and installation of tree pits and extended tree trenches, addressing water quality and biological impairments in the region.
$300,000

Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
Living Shoreline Installation on the Delaware River in Camden, NJ
Install a hybrid living shoreline along the Delaware River in Camden, New Jersey, in front of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority Wastewater Treatment Plant. Project will ensure shoreline stability, protect critical infrastructure at this site, and promote aquatic life and vegetation that in turn furnish diverse ecosystem services such as water quality enhancement.
$1,625,474

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey
Assessing Red Knot Survival Using Data from Delaware Bay and Lagoa do Peixe, Brazil (DE, BRA)
Monitor recovery and stopover health of red knot and other shorebirds, estimate stopover population size, and protect critical habitats to improve foraging conditions for migratory shorebirds in Delaware Bay, Delaware, and Lagoa do Piexe, Brazil. Project will continue to develop a better understanding of the threats occurring at Lagoa do Piexe and surrounding areas towards recovery of the red knot population as a whole.
$75,000

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey
Developing Management and Restoration Strategies for American Oystercatcher in the Delaware Bay (NJ)
Systematically survey and monitor American Oystercatchers breeding on the beaches along the Delaware Bay in New Jersey for productivity and risk factors to reproductive success. Project will result in the development of a quantitative habitat characterization based on comprehensive assessments at active nest sites and the incorporation of the habitat needs of this priority at-risk species into larger beach restoration projects along the Delaware Bay in the future.
$125,367

Conserve Wildlife Foundation of New Jersey
Restoring the Delaware Bay Stopover for Red Knots through Monitoring and Protection (NJ)
Further current management and monitoring efforts to recover the Rufa Red Knot and other shorebirds as well as Horseshoe Crab through disturbance protection and monitoring of population status. Project will support the maintenance of effective, established, volunteer-based population monitoring programs in the region.
$239,168

Delaware River Basin Commission
Water Resource Management Studies across the Delaware River Basin (DE, NJ, NY, PA)
Increase and enhance water security for fish, wildlife, and humans in the Delaware River Basin by advancing research in water resource management through the completion of studies comprising four critical components of water security to understand disparities in water security in overburdened communities and water resiliency. Project will generate findings that will be used for future water security planning efforts.
$866,938

Delaware Riverkeeper Network
Restoring the Stream-Community Connection in East Trenton (NJ)
Invest in local knowledge and capacity to connect to the Assunpink Creek and East Trenton community. Project will expand the StreetLeader program with two youth leaders each year to be environmental specialists for the community and build a training program to sustain these positions into the future. This project will also monitor water quality and ecological integrity through continuous sensors and discrete water quality and biological surveys.
$116,687

Ducks Unlimited
Demonstrating the Utility of Low-cost Salt Marsh Restoration Techniques in Delaware Bay (DE, NJ)
Advance a Delaware Bay-wide tidal marsh resilience program based on innovative low cost and disturbance marsh restoration techniques. Project will serve as the beginning of a programmatic approach to investigate the utility of these techniques and scale up the effort to make a more meaningful impact to the coastal wetland conservation within the Bay.
$388,878

Ducks Unlimited
Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Tidal Marsh Restoration Implementation Phase II (NJ)
Restore and enhance 430 acres of existing and lost critical tidal freshwater marsh habitat at Supawna Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, New Jersey. Project will facilitate natural hydrologic regime through removal of excess rock in key channels, enhance marsh resilience via enhancing existing breakwaters along the Refuge border, and conduct marsh elevation enhancement via dredge material placement.
$1,461,082

Foodshed Alliance
Water Quality Monitoring and Outreach Campaign for the Paulins Kill Watershed (NJ)
Expand outreach and education on protecting the Paulins Kill Watershed to municipalities, schools, community groups, nonprofits, and local residents, and institute a citizens’ water-quality monitoring program. Project will support the promotion of science-based water quality decision-making and management.
$131,668

Groundwork Hudson Valley
Exemplary Trees for Critical Habitats: Hudson Valley Restoration (NJ, NY, PA)
Conduct habitat restoration work across three areas involving riparian, swamp and upland environments in the Hudson Valley. Project will engage 30-50 youth and over 75 local volunteers in reforestation activities to restore 3 acres, improve management on 15 acres of habitat and plant 500 trees.
$49,938

Groundwork Elizabeth
Urban Riparian Restoration, Stewardship, Awareness and Training (NJ)
Restore natural habitats through the enhancement of six wetlands, removal of 4 acres of invasive plant species, and installation of 32 feet of Bio-logs in Sussex, New Jersey. Project will increase engagement with volunteers and public and private sector partnerships, and address local watershed issues that threaten the waterway, stream bank and native flora and fauna.
$38,663

Long Beach Township
Restoring Bay Islands for Community Resiliency (NJ)
Conduct site assessments and create preliminary design for five islands, with the dual purpose of ecological health and community resilience. Project will target assessment of islands that buffer the Township and in preparation for final design and construction, will obtain regulator input at a permit pre-application meeting and develop construction cost estimates.
$87,066

Manomet
Coordinating American Oystercatcher Recovery and Conservation along the Atlantic Coast (multiple states)
Coordinate the American Oystercatcher recovery initiative, conduct a range-wide aerial survey to count all wintering oystercatchers along the Southeast Atlantic and Gulf coasts (United States), and reduce the impact of predators and human disturbance on populations of coastal breeding shorebirds. Project will support the goals of the Atlantic Flyway Business Plan by creating a framework for long-term protection, restoration, and creation of shorebird habitat at key sites.
$205,000

National Wildlife Federation
Creating the Delaware River Watershed Conservation Blueprint
Create a science-based Conservation Blueprint to help guide where and when to invest resources for restoration and conservation in the Delaware River Watershed. Project will facilitate the creation of a roadmap that includes the parameters of the Blueprint, the selection of a technical provider, and the paneling of Basin partners to assist in the development of a science-based, landscape-scale strategy that builds upon the existing strategic and conservation plans of partners throughout the Basin, and a coordination mechanism that reflects and balances the preferences and views of the partners.
$213,955

Natural Resource Education Foundation of New Jersey
Coastal Landscape Enhancement for Community Resilience at the Waretown Lighthouse Center (NJ)
Conduct site assessment and develop plans to restore 50 acres of salt marsh habitat at the Lighthouse Center in Waretown, NJ. Project will develop designs to increase marsh elevation with the reuse of local dredge material and restore natural marsh hydrology by mitigating mosquito-control ditches with low-technology methods.
$138,138

New Jersey Audubon Society
Building Capacity for Conservation Projects through a Mentored Small Grant Program (DE, NJ, NY PA)
Administer a small grants restoration program to provide peer mentoring opportunities to prospective grantees in the Delaware River Basin. Project will assist organizations and community groups in capacity building through on-the-ground restoration projects with an outcome of a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable and coordinated Delaware River watershed.
$439,952

New Jersey Audubon Society
Enhancing Habitat to Benefit Golden-Winged Warbler, Bobwhite Quail, American Black Duck and Bog Turtle (NJ)
Work directly with private landowners across focal areas for golden-winged warbler, bobwhite quail, American black duck, and bog turtle in New Jersey to deploy best management practices and improve habitat. Project will restore 10 acres of wetlands, develop ecological forest management plans, and implement at least 15 Best Management Plans.
$425,527

New Jersey Audubon Society
High Marsh Habitat Management for Nesting Black Rail and Saltmarsh Sparrow in the Delaware Bay (NJ)
Conserve critical black rail and saltmarsh sparrow high marsh habitat in Delaware Bay at an unimpounded site currently farmed for salt hay. Project will work with the Natural Resources Conservation Service to modify existing practice scenarios that integrate salt marsh conservation into their incentive programs, which will allow the landowner to maintain some farming while providing critical habitat for at-risk marsh birds.
$190,295

New Jersey Audubon Society
Surveying American Horseshoe Crab as a Critical Element of Red Knot Conservation (Multiple States)
Implement surveys and recovery metrics used in Delaware Bay to characterize and track the status of horseshoe crab populations in six Atlantic Coast states. Project will inform natural resource agencies, supporting the recovery of horseshoe crab populations outside of Delaware Bay, with a goal of rebuilding a network of shorebird stopovers, and advancing the recovery of rufa red knot and other Arctic-nesting shorebirds.
$60,000

North Jersey RC&D Area
Implementing Effective Best Management Practices through the AgAssist Program in New Jersey
Address agricultural runoff by administering the AgAssist Conservation and Commitment Program in the New Jersey Highlands Cluster geography of the Delaware River Watershed Initiative. Project will efficiently, equitably, and effectively deliver technical and financial assistance to farmers by implementing best management practices that improve and protect water quality.
$250,489

NY/NJ Baykeeper
Designing a Nature Based Shoreline for Naval Weapons Station Earle (NJ)
Advance an innovative nature-based design for 3,200 linear feet of shoreline stabilization, coastal protection, and habitat enhancement along the Raritan Bay coast adjacent to U.S. Naval Weapons Station Earle. Project will progress the goal of stabilizing the station’s shoreline and protecting the surrounding community through oyster castles and marsh restoration to dampen wave energies, mitigate storm surge, reduce erosion, and initiate beneficial sediment accretion along the coastline.
$621,576

Ocean County College 
Nellie Bennett Marsh Restoration Planning (NJ)
Complete site assessment and preliminary design for restoration of 20 acres of tidal salt marsh and up to 2,600 feet of shoreline that is undergoing subsidence and edge erosion. Project will provide important wildlife habitat and protect a local school and over 150 homes from flooding and wave action.
$234,930

Partnership for the Delaware Estuary
Building Capacity for Urban Waters Federal Partnership Cities (DE, NJ, PA)
Expand the capacity of local organizations in the four Delaware River Urban Waters Federal Partnership cities of Camden, Chester, Philadelphia, and Wilmington to plan and implement community-driven habitat and water quality projects. Project will engage community groups and local decision-makers in order to implement community-led projects, such as tree plantings, installing rain gardens and native pollinator gardens, and other habitat improvement projects.
$92,541

Pinelands Preservation Alliance
Introducing the Landscape Makeover Program to the Delaware River Watershed (NJ)
Implement the Landscape Makeover Program along the Delaware River Watershed communities. Project will transform lawns into pollinator habitats that reduce stormwater and localized flooding by providing homeowners and municipalities and other institutions funding and technical assistance to install green stormwater infrastructure.
$443,750

Rutgers University
Design of Nature-based Infrastructure for the Royce Brook Watershed (NJ)
Identify and develop preliminary designs for nature-based stormwater management projects that can capture and store stormwater runoff from developed areas and release it slowly well after storm events. Project will reduce flooding in both Hillsborough and Manville, New Jersey, while also treating the stormwater runoff and providing wildlife habitat.
$249,569

Rutgers University
Final Floodplain Habitat Design To Establish Nature-based Infrastructure along Woodbridge River (NJ)
Produce final floodplain restoration designs that incorporate nature-based solutions and nature-based infrastructure to improve ecosystem function and mitigate flood risk in three communities in coastal New Jersey. Project will improve community resilience and wetland habitat for terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
$397,632

Stony Brook-Millstone Watershed Association
Creating Watershed Community Through a Science-Based Educational Collaborative (NJ)
Support the collaboration of two non-profit environmental groups to simultaneously offer StreamWatch Schools, River-Friendly Schools, and Eco-Schools to partnering schools in the historically under-resourced districts in and around Trenton, New Jersey. Project will work with partners to engage teachers and students from historically excluded groups and connect them with their watershed neighbor-schools throughout the Assunpink watershed.
$152,703

The Nature Conservancy
Fish Passage Barrier Removals for Habitat Restoration and Water Quality for Native Wildlife on the Pequest River (NJ)
Complete engineering, permitting and construction needed to fully remove fish passage barriers at the No Name and Cedar Grove Dams, the third and fourth blockages on the Pequest River. Project will amplify the impact that removal of the two most downstream fish passage barriers will have on restoring aquatic connectivity and improving water quality for the benefit of Delaware River Basin priority species.
$266,061

The Nature Conservancy
Increasing Capacity for Improving Aquatic Passageways to Accelerate Habitat Improvement in Delaware River (DE, NJ, NY, PA)
Add capacity and expertise for aquatic passage restoration in the Delaware River Basin by leveraging an existing collaboration and offering new training opportunities throughout the basin. Project will support efficient habitat restoration, increase recreation, and reduce risk by increasing capacity and expertise among conservation practitioners, fish and wildlife agencies, local governments, and dam safety programs.
$106,965