NEW YORK, NY – May 5, 2014 – The Open Space Institute is pleased to announce the launch of the Delaware River Watershed Protection Fund which will support projects that permanently protect lands that conserve water quality and quantity in the Delaware River Basin.
This first round of funding will be focused on permanently protecting intact forested lands that safe guard water quality and aquifer recharge in 5 focus areas (“watershed clusters)” in parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York that have been identified as high priority for the protection of water quality in the Delaware River Basin.
Capitalized with a $10 million grant from the William Penn Foundation, the Fund supports land conservation transactions that contribute to the protection of a secure supply of clean water necessary for expanding human use and for sustaining ecological functions in the Delaware River watershed. OSI will make loans and grants for land acquisition to qualified organizations through a competitive process that is guided by an advisory board comprised of experts with knowledge of hydrology, natural resources and policy, as well as conservation planning, land transactions and philanthropy.
As a conservation lender, regranter, direct acquisition agent and researcher, OSI has been active over the past decade helping to conserve over 110,000 acres in New York and 16,000 acres in the Mid-Atlantic region. Please feel free to forward this information to colleagues who may qualify for grants in the region.