Projects within the White River sub-watershed will be considered only when those projects offer “exceptional environmental benefits not available in the upper Connecticut River watershed.” Please see the eligibility map in Supporting Documents below for more information.

Proposals should address one or more of the following resource categories:

1. River Restoration: Projects that improve or enhance water quality, fisheries, fish passage (i.e. dam removal, culvert restoration) and habitat for river-dependent species.
2. Wetland Restoration, Protection, and Enhancement: Projects that restore or enhance wetlands to mitigate for wetlands lost or adversely affected by the Fifteen Mile Falls (FMF) Hydroelectric Project (upstream and downstream from the FMF project area)
3. Shoreland Protection: Projects that restore or protect buffers and eroding river or stream banks within the watershed.

MEF Priority Areas—The MEF Advisory Committee uses a meta-analysis of the MEF service area to identify priority locations with high concentrations of important resources.  The MEF Advisory Committee will give funding priority to project proposals that occur within the Priority Riparian Areas and that address the Priority Connectivity Projects.

1. Priority Riparian Areas - Eight (8) Priority Riparian Areas were delineated where existing data, studies and reports have identified critical resources that overlap. Organizations are encouraged to develop medium- to large-scale, on-the-ground projects (not additional research studies) within the Priority Riparian Areas that have a strong nexus with one or more of the three MEF resource categories (listed above).  The intent is to catalyze directly-correlated, multi-resource proposals within the Priority Riparian Areas that provide watershed-level benefits and may require significant funds for implementation. 

2. Priority Connectivity Projects - This study identified man-made impediments to in-stream connectivity, with an emphasis on dams that inhibit aquatic organism connectivity to the main stem of the Connecticut River, and where identified high-value, in-stream ecological resources are likely to significantly benefit from impediment removal.  The report identifies nine (9) “Very Highest Priority Dams” and eight (8) “High Priority Dams”. The intent is to catalyze project proposals to remove or facilitate aquatic organism passage (AOP) through these identified dams.

• Others (see text field entitled "Additional Eligibility Criteria" for clarification)

Additional Geographic Information: