The Chi–Cal Rivers Fund awards grants to reduce stormwater runoff with nature-based infrastructure, enhance the quality and connectivity of fish and wildlife habitat, and activate restored habitats through public access improvements and community engagement.
Donor Name: National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF)
State: Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin
City: Selected Cities
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/30/2025
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
A team of private and public organizations established the Chi-Cal Rivers Fund (the Fund) to help improve the ability of the region’s natural systems and communities to withstand and absorb the impacts of environmental stressors and enhance the region’s unique habitats and waterways through strategically coordinated investments.
The Fund achieves its impact by supporting voluntary conservation projects focused on three goals:
- enhancing fish and wildlife habitat
- reducing stormwater runoff with nature-based solutions
- activating restored habitats to improve access to nature.
Categories
The Fund will award grants in the following three categories.
- Improve Habitat Quality and Connectivity
- Funding in this category will support riparian, in-stream, upland and wetland habitat improvements along or near the major waterways of the system listed under the Geographic Focus section. Competitive projects will achieve a range of ecological benefits, such as improving water quality, reducing erosion, and increasing the complexity, connectivity and quality of habitat. Priority will be given to projects that improve native/natural habitat, benefit species of concern, and increase biodiversity and maintain healthy native populations. Please list priority species and species of concern to benefit from the work in the proposal narrative. Invasive species control activities, including initial treatments, subsequent retreatments and early detection and rapid response (EDRR) are eligible for funding in this category as a component of a comprehensive habitat restoration project. Applicants demonstrating the capacity, experience, and resources needed to effectively manage invasive species and preserve habitat values following initial treatments will be most competitive.
- Expand and Maintain Nature-Based Solutions to Improve Stormwater Storage
- Funding in this category will support nature-based solutions that improve stormwater capture and storage, reduce runoff, combined sewer overflows, basement backups and flooding. Competitive proposals will focus primarily on the installation and/or maintenance of nature-based practices (e.g. stormwater wetlands, rain gardens, riparian buffers etc.). If projects incorporate constructed elements, such as pervious surfaces, these elements will need to complement a suite of nature-based solutions and will not be eligible for funding as the primary focus of a project. Priority will be given to projects that are designed with a dual purpose, to increase stormwater storage capacity while also enhancing the quality of, access to, and/or use of natural areas. Eligible work includes:
- Install nature-based solutions, such as stormwater wetlands, urban forests, rain gardens, bioswales, etc., to capture and infiltrate stormwater and reduce flooding risk.
- Maintain and/or improve the function of existing nature-based solutions. Projects should maintain ecological function of nature-based solutions and support communities to secure long-term and sustainable maintenance solutions that increase community-level capacity and add jobs.
- Funding in this category will support nature-based solutions that improve stormwater capture and storage, reduce runoff, combined sewer overflows, basement backups and flooding. Competitive proposals will focus primarily on the installation and/or maintenance of nature-based practices (e.g. stormwater wetlands, rain gardens, riparian buffers etc.). If projects incorporate constructed elements, such as pervious surfaces, these elements will need to complement a suite of nature-based solutions and will not be eligible for funding as the primary focus of a project. Priority will be given to projects that are designed with a dual purpose, to increase stormwater storage capacity while also enhancing the quality of, access to, and/or use of natural areas. Eligible work includes:
- Activate Restored Habitats and Natural Areas
- Funding in this category will support grants that activate restored habitats and natural areas, including those previously funded by GLRI or NFWF, by investing in long-term habitat stewardship, public access, engagement capacity and programs to help all people get out into nature. Projects should invest in needed on-the-ground stewardship or restoration to maintain habitat quality while also enhancing site access and stewardship capacity. All proposals should describe the rationale or plan for selecting the project location, the activation elements proposed and identify the user groups that will be served by the project and how they will be meaningfully engaged in the project. To do this work well, they see long-term sustained commitments to community and municipal engagement as critical. All applicants will be asked to provide, or develop with NFWF funding, a longer-term community and partnership framework that is already a part of the organization or partner org’s strategic operations or current priorities (not just project level). Projects should support public-private partnership development – both with partners at the community level and with municipalities to support project sustainability and long-term impact through direct investments such as maintenance.
Grant Period
Anticipated completion time for funded projects will typically be two (2) years or two field seasons following finalization of a grant agreement, with the exception of the third funding category, for which projects can span up to three (3) years.
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, tribal governments and organizations, and educational institutions. To be competitive, applicant organizations must demonstrate capacity and experience commensurate with the scale of the project being proposed and the funding being requested.
- Ineligible applicants include federal government agencies, unincorporated individuals, and for-profit businesses.
For more information, visit NFWF.
