Watershed Association Grants

Completed and signed applications must be submitted in a single PDF document via email to ewatts@baltimorecountymd.gov by 11:59 p.m. on Friday, February 2, 2024. Incomplete or incorrectly filled out applications will be rejected.

SPECIFIC GUIDANCE FOR EACH QUESTION ON THE APPLICATION

1. Use organization name for “Applicant Name” field and organization’s address for contact information.
2. Check applicable response.
3. Use the online district finder tool to find your County Council and State legislative districts. 
4. Provide your district information found in step 3. 
5. Answer “See Attachment A.” Please address each of the topics as detailed in the Attachment Instructions section below, and submit as an attachment labeled “Attachment A.”
6. The funding request from Baltimore County cannot exceed $30,000 (or commensurate with ability to achieve grant goals) for this grant cycle. You may include other sources of funding that will overlap during the time period, but it is not necessary. If you do, then you must include them as part of the budget table in Attachment B.
   1. You must include copies of your most recent financial statements. Submit as an attachment labeled “Attachment C.”
7. You should include grants that have been awarded and will overlap during the time period.
8. Answer “Yes.” This is a good opportunity to promote the long-term commitment of your organization and the needs for restoring our local streams and watersheds.
9. Answer “No.” Equipment purchased (if any) with this grant program will be used to improve water quality, not for the improvement or benefit of real property.
10. List your current board members.
11. Answer “Not Applicable.”
12. This answer should include volunteer hours and dollar value.
13. Answer “the residents of Baltimore County within” and state your watershed. Please expound and at a minimum state—the implementation of more environmental restoration projects, that this is a benefit to water quality, and also improved stewardship by residents.
14. You may answer “EPS,” “word of mouth,” etc.

QUESTION 5, ATTACHMENT A DETAILS 

1. ORGANIZATION ELIGIBILITY

Clearly state again, that your organization fulfills the following qualifications:

• Is a locally-based watershed association/community organization with active membership in Baltimore County
• Is registered as a 501(c)(3), 501 (c) (4) or 501 (c)(6) organization in good standing with the State of Maryland
• Has a demonstrated history of successfully identifying and conducting resident-based and community restoration projects
• Has fulfilled all grant requirements on past grants, if previously funded through this grant program

2. RESTORATION PROJECT GOALS

Restoration projects must be implemented in Baltimore County. List the types and number of restoration projects that the organization anticipates to complete during the year using the table 3 template. These may include, but are not limited to these project examples.

3. STREAM WATCH GOALS

Indicate that the organization will offer, to the best of your ability, a Stream Watch program within your watershed.

4. WATERSHED PLANNING GOALS

Indicate that you will be a part of any Baltimore County Watershed Planning steering/implementation committees in your watershed, will work with EPS to identify key leaders in the watershed planning area and will identify actions that the watershed organization will assist in implementing in the future.

5. LINK ACTIONS TO WATERSHED PLANS

It is essential to link all planned restoration actions to the following plans in effect in your watershed(s):

• Small Watershed Action Plans (SWAPs)—SWAP Action Table is Appendix A of Volume 1
• Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Plans—TMDL  Actions are in Section 9
• Trash and Litter Reduction Strategy (Countywide)—For grantees working in areas where a Trash TMDL exists, defer to the TMDL Implementation Plan for trash and litter.

Indicate that you will use these documents to guide and plan implementation projects and list the documents by title and action as shown in the example in table 1. The County will not accept applications lacking this information. In watersheds that have multiple SWAPs, show how a single restoration action connects (potentially) to more than one SWAP/TMDL Implementation Plan. EPS is looking for prioritization and specificity in the watershed association’s approach to implementation. Tell us which neighborhoods, institutions, etc. you will target for future projects.

See table 2 for a list of plans currently in effect by watershed. For more detail on TMDLs, see Section 10 of the County’s NPDES Annual Report, especially tables 10-2 and table 10-4.

To connect the Watershed Association’s role in implementation of Baltimore County’s WIP, insert the following sentence (if accurate): "Watershed group XX will help Baltimore County implement their Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan by continuing at our historic pace of restoration or better, as mentioned in section 2.2.1.5 and table 2-12 of the WIP document."

6. EDUCATION AND OUTREACH GOALS

Discuss particular educational topics and the anticipated activities that you plan to pursue during the year.

7. CAPACITY BUILDING GOALS

Include other grants that you hope to secure. Discuss anticipated increases in membership and volunteers.

In addition to a narrative description for items one through seven above, use the template shown in table 3 to list the number of activities and restoration projects, by quarter, that your organization anticipates completing during the year. These are your goals which will be evaluated for success on a quarterly basis (upon receipt of each quarterly report and invoice) and at the end of the grant year. Changes are permitted upon timely discussion with EPS, and the realization of an opportunity or constraint that was not foreseen at the time of the application. If there are any activities of interest, which are not on this table, discuss with EPS in advance of your application to determine if they are eligible to be funded with this grant.

8. ASSIST WITH INSPECTIONS OF PAST PROJECTS

Indicate that you will coordinate with EPS on inspection and verification of past planting projects, rain gardens and other BMPs as per Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) guidelines to maintain pollutant reduction credit for the projects. In addition, indicate that a planting plan will be submitted for all new tree plantings per the tree planting guidance (separate document).

9. PAST YEAR ACCOMPLISHMENTS

List your organization’s accomplishments in Baltimore County related to the grant from the previous year, if applicable. Do not include accomplishments outside of Baltimore County.

BUDGET: ATTACHMENT B

Funding will be provided for salaries, fringe and overhead/indirects (as described in Section IV). You must include additional funding sources and how they will be spent, if you added additional funding in question 6 on the grant application form.

Attach a Project Budget table, labeled “Attachment B.” An example is provided in table 4.

FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: ATTACHMENT C

In accordance with question 6a, include the most recent audit, tax return, treasurer’s report or current bank statements for the organization, labeled as "Attachment C."

CHECKLIST OF ATTACHMENTS TO GRANT APPLICATION FORM

Clearly label each attachment as specified.

• Attachment A—Question 5 (to include tables: “Linking Actions to Watershed Plans” and “Restoration Projects Planned”)
• Attachment B—Budget
• Attachment C—Financials

Your completed application, including all attachments, must be saved as a single PDF document. The following documents must be submitted as part of your application, and attachments should be clearly labeled as specified:

• Request for Financial Assistance Form—The application must be signed by the President of the Board of Directors or the President/Executive Director of the organization.
• Attachment A—As detailed in the Application Instructions section
• Attachment B—Budget
• Attachment C—Financial statements, including your organization’s most recent audit, tax return, treasurer’s report or current bank statements