The Chautauqua Lake and Watershed Management Alliance (Alliance) has partnered with several local foundations and the County of Chautauqua to offer 2020 local funding assistance opportunities to its members via a new local grant application process to identify, prioritize, and fund projects and programs to protect and improve water quality on Chautauqua Lake and in its watershed. The funding opportunity, which was exclusively available to Alliance members, was announced on July 19, 2019, with applications due on September 19, 2019. Alliance staff were available to assist members with their applications throughout the two-month-long submission period.

The Alliance is pleased to announce it has received a total of $600,000 from the Lenna Foundation, Sheldon Foundation, Chautauqua Region Community Foundation, and the Gebbie Foundation to fund 15 member-led projects in the Lake and Watershed. These projects include stormwater and erosion mitigation, education, nutrient and macrophyte monitoring, invasive species monitoring and management, equipment acquisition, targeted herbicide treatments (pending DEC permits), and lake-wide harvesting and near-shore cleanup. All of the projects that were awarded funding through the Alliance were aligned with our 5-Year Implementation Strategy for Chautauqua Lake and its Watershed, promote the Chautauqua County MOA tenets, increase data collection, and focus on unity of effort.

The number of projects funded this year increased from 8 in 2019 to 15, and the total amount of funding awarded increased from $300,000 in 2019 to $600,000 in 2020. We are encouraged by the increased number of applications we’ve received and would like to thank those who applied. Projects funded through this new local grant application process seek to improve water quality in Chautauqua Lake and/or its Watershed through balanced approaches that utilize both short and long-term management techniques. The Alliance would like to thank our local foundations for their generous support as these projects would not be possible without them.

A complete list of projects and funding allocations will be posted on our website pending final approval by the Alliance Board of Directors.

For more information regarding the Alliance, please contact Vince Horrigan at (716) 661-8918 or visit http://www.chautauquaalliance.org/.