Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund: Catalyst Grants

The Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund: Catalyst Grants, initiated in 2014 by the Open Space Institute, aims to enhance water resource management and land protection. These grants support organizations addressing climate change, environmental justice, and community resilience. Eligible applicants include not-for-profit organizations and Indigenous-led groups. Funded projects should integrate science into conservation plans, focusing on water quality and stewardship. The initiative collaborates with the William Penn Foundation to ensure sustainable water practices across the Delaware River watershed.

NOTE: Please contact staff to discuss projects prior to receiving a link to an online application.
About Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund
Launched in 2014, the Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund seeks to ensure abundant, clean water through support of land protection and improved land use planning, as part of the broader Delaware River Watershed Initiative, a coordinated effort involving 65 organizations working together to protect and restore clean water in the Delaware River watershed. The Initiative, generously supported by the William Penn Foundation, supports land protection, restoration, and water quality monitoring in eight regions of the watershed. The William Penn Foundation has also commissioned an assessment of the contribution of capital investments in protection and restoration to ensure water quality.
Catalyst Planning Grants
As part of the DRWI, Open Space Institute (OSI) awards Catalyst grants to eligible organizations to target and accelerate water resource protection and management by not-for-profit organizations, Tribes, and state, county, and municipal governments.  Successful applicants will work to integrate water quality data and science into strategic conservation or forest management plans, such as Open Space Plans, ordinances, or other mechanisms for protection and stewardship of water resources (including forested stream banks, wetlands, headwaters, and floodplains). While proposed projects may have broader purposes, OSI funds should be used for the portion of a planning project that informs protection or management of water resources. OSI encourages projects that address climate change, flood hazard and/or water justice. For example, we seek to support projects that:
Mitigate flood impacts to water quality and communities;Return land to Indigenous ownership and/or management;Demonstrate carbon mitigation and water quality co-benefits of well-stewarded forests.

Eligibility

Projects that address the disproportionate burden of climate impacts and environmental racism on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, and low-income communities are encouraged to apply.Not-for-profit organizations, including but not limited to those focused on land conservation, land use planning, environmental justice, or watershed management.State or federally-recognized Tribes and Indigenous-led not-for-profit organizationsWhile public agencies are not eligible to apply for funding, OSI welcomes proposals thatinclude partnerships with public sector entities

Ineligibility

The following are not eligible uses of grant funds:
General operating support;Direct land management or stewardship costs (i.e., plan implementation);Land acquisition or loans Research that is not directly applied to a plan for implementation; andPolitical lobbying