Thursday, March 28, 2024

Florida’s Myakka Island Conservation Corridor to benefit from Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant

The Conservation Foundation of the Gulf Coast to Protect and Sustain Healthy Watersheds recently received a $156,000 Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant for a project benefitting the Myakka Island Conservation Corridor in Florida.

“The Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant Program is a unique public-private partnership that brings together businesses, local governments, universities, and not-for-profit organizations to work collaboratively on watershed protection — which is key to long-lasting environmental protection,” Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Water Deputy Assistant Administrator Joel Beauvais said. “Today’s grants will protect waterways from pollution while maintaining healthy habitats and ensuring clean and safe drinking water that will safeguard local economies that depend on watersheds.”

The funding will enable the foundation to protect approximately 10,000 acres in the Myakka River watershed over the next six years, which will link areas already protected and promote efforts to maintain drinkable, fishable and swimmable waterways.

The Healthy Watershed Consortium Grant Program is a partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities. This is the first round of grants awarded, as the program was launched in 2015.

“These grants will accelerate protection and improved management of watersheds across the United States,” Endowments President and CEO Carlton Owen said.