Iowa groups looking for help implementing innovative, regional, and locally led Clean Water Awareness and Education Campaigns can apply for funding from the Iowa DNR Watershed Improvement Section. Through a grant program, the DNR looks for proposals that clearly demonstrate an ability to put in place innovative, targeted, impactful, and sustainable Clean Water Awareness and Education Campaigns.
The DNR seeks to award grants to eligible local entities to develop and implement locally led programs. Educational campaigns will improve public knowledge of and promote actions to reduce nonpoint source pollution and improve water quality. The DNR particularly seeks projects that will use innovative methods for reaching diverse audiences and stakeholder groups.
These grants were developed after the DNR contracted with the University of Northern Iowa to survey Iowa’s residents in 2015 to measure their knowledge of water quality and identify potential behavior changes. This is the next step in the Nonpoint Source Management Plan. (For more details, see Objective 2.5 of Goal 2 of Iowa’s Nonpoint Source Management Plan and the results of the survey). To track progress, the survey will be repeated when grant-based educational campaigns are completed. The first round of Education Campaign contracts was awarded in 2018, and those projects are ongoing.
For more information, see here.
