Earlier this week, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Director John J. Kim announced a grant opportunity with $10 million in funding for projects that will improve water quality in Illinois. The Green Infrastructure Grant Opportunities (GIGO) Program has been made possible by Governor Pritzker’s bipartisan Rebuild Illinois capital plan. Applications are due by Oct. 18, 2023.
“The GIGO Program has provided funding for projects that directly address stormwater runoff and nonpoint source pollution. These projects will reduce flooding concerns and improve our waterways. We are pleased to once again offer the GIGO Program funding to further protect our vital water resources in Illinois.”
IEPA Director John J. Kim
The GIGO Program provides funding for projects to construct green infrastructure best management practices (BMPs) that prevent, eliminate, or reduce water quality impairments by decreasing stormwater runoff into Illinois’ rivers, streams, and lakes. Projects that implement treatment trains (multiple BMPs in series) and/or multiple BMPs within the same watershed may be more effective and efficient than a single large green infrastructure BMP.
For GIGO, green infrastructure means any stormwater management technique or practice employed with the primary goal to preserve, restore, mimic, or enhance natural hydrology. Green infrastructure includes, but is not limited to, methods of using soil and vegetation to promote soil percolation, evapotranspiration, and filtering or the harvesting and reuse of precipitation. Examples of project types/BMPs that may be funded through GIGO are provided in the NOFO. Illinois EPA anticipates project awards between $75,000 and $2.5 million. The first $5 Million in GIGO grants were awarded to eleven grantees in 2021 and 2022. Four projects have completed construction and the remaining are under construction.
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