The New York-New Jersey Harbor & Estuary Program (HEP) is requesting proposals to support vulnerable communities seeking to advance research, planning, and/or infrastructure projects that will help increase resilience to recurring extreme weather events and impacts to water quality issues in those communities.
Donor Name: Hudson River Foundation
State: New York and New Jersey
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 02/13/2026
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Recurring extreme weather events are impacting the health of the estuary and its watershed, and the people who live here. Warmer air and water temperatures, changes in precipitation patterns, increases in the number and magnitude of extreme weather events like hurricanes and drought, and rising sea levels are already changing baseline conditions and affecting people and wildlife. These changes are expected to increase in the future.
Objectives
Through this RFP, HEP will identify and support four to six proposals that meet one or ideally more of the following objectives:
- Enable communities in the Hudson – Raritan Estuary Watershed, from the Tappan Zee south to the Sandy Hook-Rockaway transect, to fully participate in planning and decisions about watershed planning, stormwater management, and/or other resiliency and adaptation efforts related projects being advanced by federal, state, and local governments. Proposals that can describe how community input will be incorporated into existing federal, state or local decisions or otherwise demonstrate coordination with public agencies are particularly encouraged.
- Advance community-initiated projects that will enhance resiliency, including shoreline improvements, stormwater management measures, and natural and nature-based resiliency features. They are especially interested in projects that demonstrate cross-agency collaboration and will help communities gain access to future funding opportunities and/or implementation of plans and projects.
- Address gaps in data and knowledge that will improve community and agency understanding of baseline conditions, the current and future impacts of extreme weather events, community values, and/or the effectiveness of alternative adaptation measures and management strategies. This can include efforts to assess the state of existing knowledge as well as the development, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs. Projects that engage community members to participate in the co-production of required data and knowledge are especially encouraged.
- Ensure that important Estuary benefits are addressed and ideally enhanced through the project’s efforts. Such benefits and specific related programs include water quality improvements realized through Long Term Control Plans and MS4 stormwater permits, habitat enhancement including advancing projects identified in the Hudson Raritan Estuary Comprehensive Restoration Plan, and/or projects that increase or improve public access to the waterways
- Demonstrate the power of collaboration between community, government, independent scientists, and/or utilities. Addressing extreme weather events requires a team effort. Proposals that engage multiple stakeholders and/or seek to establish successful community involvement in such partnerships are highly desired.
Funding Information
A total of approximately $350,000 is available. There is no minimum or maximum grant award though HEP anticipates awarding four to six grants of between $50,000 – $100,000.
Eligibility Criteria
Grant recipients must be a local government or non-profit organization located in and/or serving communities within the Hudson-Raritan Estuary Watershed as defined by HEP’s 2025-2035 Action Agenda.
For more information, visit HRF.
