Michigan DEQ makes $4.2 million available for water quality projects

Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced on July 23 that it has made roughly $4.2 million in grants available for projects that will control polluted runoff and therefore promote the health of the state’s lakes, streams and wetlands.

The money, which comes from state and federal funding, is earmarked for projects under the Clean Michigan Initiative’s Nonpoint Source Pollution Control Grants and the Federal Clean Water Act, Section 319.

The former consists of $2 million in funding and will be awarded to projects that will implement the best management practices in areas identified by the DEQ’s watershed management plans as being critical. The federal funding, amounting to $2.2 million, is available for projects that engage the DEQ’s priority recommendations for watershed management plans. Both sets of funding require a minimum of 25 percent local match.

The DEQ also announced a webinar for interested parties, which will take place on July 30 from 10 to 11 a.m., and the grant application deadlines, which are Aug. 12 for notices of intent and Oct. 9 for the full applications.