VA Citizen Water Monitoring Grants

VA Citizen Water Monitoring Grants

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (VDEQ)
Amount: Up to US $11,000
Last Updated: July 17, 2025

Summary

The Virginia Citizen Water Monitoring Grants support individuals and groups in monitoring water quality across Virginia. These grants fund essential activities like purchasing monitoring equipment and training volunteers. The program aims to generate valuable data for water quality assessment and foster community education on environmental stewardship. With options ranging from mini-grants to larger coordination grants, applicants can secure funding to enhance local water monitoring efforts and address pollution sources effectively.

Overview

Citizen Water Monitoring Grants The primary purpose of these grants is to provide funding for water quality monitoring groups and individuals to monitor the quality of Virginia’s waters. The grant can be used in a variety of ways, including purchasing water quality monitoring equipment, training citizen volunteers, lab analysis costs, and promoting stream monitoring efforts in locations where the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is not currently collecting water quality samples. Purpose The two primary purposes of the Citizen Water Quality Monitoring Grant Program are 1) to generate citizen-collected water quality data that can be used by the agency for water quality assessment, improvement or preservation; and 2) to educate citizens on water quality monitoring and the environment. The program helps to guide and support citizen water quality monitoring and stewardship activities. Funded projects may focus on any or all of the following six general goals. List and delist impaired waters on the 303(d) Impaired Waters List and assess overall water quality.Identify sources of pollution that may help in Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) development.Track progress of TMDL’s or other restoration activitiesIdentify waters for future monitoring by DEQ.Educate the community on water quality monitoring and the effects of human activities on water quality.Provide education opportunities and support water quality monitoring in potential environmental justice communities. Grant Options Mini-Grant Maximum award up to $1,000. Open only to applicants who have not received a DEQ citizen monitoring grant in the previous three years. Regular Grant Maximum award up to $5,000. Open to any applicants who wish to apply but recommended for organizations already familiar with water quality monitoring. Coordination Grant Maximum award up to $11,000. Open only to applicants who coordinate at least three member monitoring organizations that total 35 or more volunteers. In addition, monitoring occurs at more than 50 sample sites covering at least three Virginia localities. OR Monitoring activities generate at least 1000 total Level II & Level III data points  with a least 500 of those being Level III data.

Eligibility

We've imported the main document for this grant to give you an overview. You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website.