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 The company will award grants of up to $10,000. The program is
designed to support diverse types of activities, such as watershed
cleanups, reforestation efforts, biodiversity projects, streamside
buffer restoration projects, wellhead protection initiatives and
hazardous waste collection efforts.
"Illinois American Water is committed to protecting water supplies
through outreach and education. This program is another way to help
communities in this effort,” said Bruce Hauk, Illinois American
Water President.
To qualify, proposed projects must be located in an Illinois
American Water service area and:
- address a source water or watershed protection need in
the community
- be completed between May 1, 2016 and November 30, 2016.
- be a new or innovative program for the community, or
serve as a significant expansion to an existing program
- be carried out by a formal or informal partnership
between two or more organizations
- provide evidence of sustainability
In 2015, Illinois American Water issued six grants
totaling $23,515 to the following organizations:
- The Stream Discovery Released in the East program
received a $5,000 grant. The program, which is administered
by the National Great River Research and Education Center in
Alton fills a void in today’s education by providing
teachers with tools to engage and educate students about
aquatic resources. Students participate in hands-on stream
monitoring and research. The program was expanded to include
classrooms in the Champaign and Lincoln areas.
- The Hickory Creek Watershed Bio-Blitz project
received a $2,915 grant to conduct a one-day aquatic
assessment where community volunteers within Hickory Creek
watershed will team up with biologists to help collect and
sort macroinvertebrate. More than 100 attendees
participated, including K-12 students via pre and post-blitz
lesson plans.
- The Peoria Art Guild’s Rainwater Revival received
their requested grant of $2,500 in full. The Rainwater
Revival project addresses Peoria’s sewer system overflow
concerns. The Peoria Art Guild will collaborate with area
schools to create unique artistic rain basin collection
systems to reduce water fun off in downtown Peoria, raise
awareness and implement an innovative use of water in
Peoria.
- The Peoria Riverfront Museum received a $4,100
grant for an Education Garden project. The 1,500 square foot
garden is used during summer camp, summer classes and
programming during the weekly Riverfront Market on Saturday
mornings.
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- The City of South Beloit received a $4,000 grant for the community’s
Meet Me at the Confluence 2 project. This is the second phase of a project that
began last year to remove invasive species along Turtle Creek. The restoration
project demonstrates the City’s commitment to realizing the vision of the
Confluence as a focus for natural education and restoration of native
ecosystems.
- The Conservation Technology Information Center received a $5,000 grant
for the Indian Creek Watershed project which focuses on a farming in watersheds.
A series of success story vignettes were produced to educate on successful
conservation systems including benefits, data and insight from leading farmers
on adopting priority best practices in real-world situations.
Grant information and application forms can be found online at
www.illinoisamwater.com.
Applications must be postmarked by April 1, 2016, and mailed to Karen Cotton at
Illinois American Water, 7500 North Harker Drive, Peoria, Illinois 61615 or
emailed to karen.cotton@amwater.com.
E-mail is preferred.
[© 2016 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] About
Illinois American Water
Illinois American Water, a wholly owned subsidiary of American Water
(NYSE: AWK), is the largest investor-owned water utility in the
state, providing high-quality and reliable water and/or wastewater
services to approximately 1.2 million people. American Water also
operates a customer service center in Alton and a quality control
and research laboratory in Belleville.
Founded in 1886, American Water is the largest and most
geographically diverse publicly traded U.S. water and wastewater
utility company. With headquarters in Voorhees, N.J., the company
employs 6,800 dedicated professionals who provide regulated and
market-based drinking water, wastewater and other related services
to an estimated 15 million people in 47 states and Ontario, Canada.
More information can be found at
www.amwater.com.
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