River restoration funding in the stimulus bill.


From American Rivers on passage of the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) in the House last week:

H.R. 1 includes $2 billion for drinking water under the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund and $6 billion for clean water under the Clean Water State Revolving Fund programs, with $600 million set aside for green infrastructure and water efficiency projects. It also includes $400 million in grants for river restoration projects through the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.
I'm not sure how NOAA administers its river restoration money, but would like to find out.* I'm hoping there will be an educational component there, and that not too much of this gets used to install Rosgen-inspired armored meanders. NOAA has some nice info here; looks like dam removal is a priority, and I'm good with that!

One example, also from American Rivers:
For fiscal year 2008, NOAA has awarded American Rivers $600,000 to distribute through this competitive grants program. Stream barrier removal projects in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Northwest and California are eligible to apply. This funding is provided through the NOAA Open Rivers Initiative, which seeks to enable environmental and economic renewal in local communities through the removal of stream barriers and realized benefits to diadromous fish species.

Update: *Did find out--looks like lots of good stuff, with an emphasis on migration barrier removal.

Photo from NOAA's archives, which I discovered in researching this post. (Image ID: wea01735, Location: Mississippi River, Photo Date: 1912)

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