Watersheds United Vermont (WUV) is pleased to announce the release of a new round of Clean Water Workforce Capacity Development (CWWCD) Block Grant funded through the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Clean Water Initiative Program (CWIP). The purpose of the CWWCD Block Grant is to support and invest in the capacity of our clean water partners in Vermont, both current and potential, in an equitable and inclusive way to address unmet capacity needs and ensure partners can complete  more clean water projects, engage in more complex clean water projects, or propel others to do clean water projects. See 2023 Clean Water Initiative Program Funding Policy (pg. 6) for definition of clean water projects. 

Application Due Date ……………………………………. April 10, 2026

Anticipated Notification of Award………………………….  May 2026

Grant Period: June 2026 – December 2027 (1.5 year grant award)

All capacity work funded through this grant round must be complete with final invoicing and deliverables submitted by January 2028.

Maximum award request: $35,000. Please note, we will consider applicants’ additional sources of federal and state capacity/organizational funding in prioritizing and scaling funding amounts. 

This grant round is open to eligible entities (See 2023 Clean Water Initiative Program Funding Policy pg. 22)  including applicants who have received previous WUV funds that are ending in June 2026 (this round is not open to applicants who were awarded capacity funds in January 2026). 

WUV has set up multiple dates in mid-March for one-on-one meetings with the WUV team to discuss your organization’s capacity needs and how to reflect those needs in the application and work plan. This will be a great opportunity to ask specific questions and workshop your application and work plan. If interested in a 30 minute meeting with WUV, please visit Calendly here to schedule a time slot. 

To apply for a CWWCD grant, please complete and submit the following documents:

  1. The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation Clean Water Workforce Capacity Development (CWWCD) Block Grant Application (as a Word or PDF file)
  2. Capacity Work Plan Spreadsheet (see Capacity Work Plan Guidance document for instructions on completing the capacity Work Plan Spreadsheet)

All documents can be found on the WUV website at the CWWCD grants page here.

For details on the creation of this funding program and guidance on eligible capacity activities, please see the Clean Water Workforce Capacity Development Initiative Summary Document developed by DEC.

Email the Application and the Capacity Work Plan Spreadsheet by April 10, 2026 to both:

  1. Lyn Munno, WUV Director: lyn@watershedsunitedvt.org
  2. Christian Pelletier, WUV Grants Manager: christian@watershedsunitedvt.org

Please feel free to forward this announcement to any organizations you think might be interested in building their capacity to expand or increase clean water project work in Vermont. 

Thank you and please feel free to reach out with any questions!

 

Share

Recent Posts