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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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