The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s Stream Partners Program announced that 20 community watershed groups across the state will receive grants totaling nearly $92,000 to conduct water quality improvement and education projects in 2025. The funding supports activities to enhance stream and river health, educate community members about their watershed, and engage volunteers in protection, recreation and restoration activities.
Watershed groups applied for grants of up to $5,000 to support stream cleanups, riparian plantings, water monitoring, outreach events, water treatment from acid mine drainage, recreational opportunities and more.
The grant awardees include:
- Buckhannon River Watershed Association: $5,000
- Coal River Group: $5,000
- Davis Creek Watershed Association: $3,242
- Fourpole Creek Watershed Association: $1,810
- Friends of Blackwater, Inc.: $5,000
- Friends of Mill Creek: $2,500
- Friends of Cacapon River: $5,000
- Friends of the Cheat, Inc.: $5,000
- Friends of the Tug Fork River: $5,000
- Greenbrier River Watershed Association: $5,000
- Guardians of the West Fork: $4,972
- Morris Creek Watershed Association: $5,000
- Paint Creek Watershed Association: $5,000
- Piney Creek Watershed Association: $5,000
- Save the Tygart Watershed Association, Inc.: $5,000
- Sleepy Creek Watershed Association: $4,525
- Town Run Watershed Group: $5,000
- Twelvepole Rising: $4,901.98
- Warm Springs Run Watershed Association: $5,000
- Wheeling Creek Watershed Alliance: $5,000
Total amount awarded: $91,950.98
These funds will support watershed groups in improving the water quality of streams and rivers throughout the state via direct remediation and increased public awareness regarding the need to keep waterways healthy. By enhancing and promoting the state’s water resources, West Virginia communities attract visitors and new residents and provide opportunities for outdoor recreation.
Established in 1996, the Stream Partners Program is a four-agency cooperative administered by the WVDEP, State Division of Forestry, the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, and the State Conservation Agency.
Grant applications are due September 15 each year. To be eligible, organizations must be a local watershed group and new applicants must reach out to the program’s Regional Basin Coordinator at least six months in advance of the application deadline. To learn more, visit the West Virginia Stream Partners webpage.
