MillerCoors and River Network, a national non-profit group, have joined together again to award $50,000 in grants to support local watershed protection across the country. 

The 2010 MillerCoors River Network Grant Competition Winners Have Been Chosen!

Read more about the winners and finalists below!

_________________________________________________________________________________________

$25,000 Grant Recipient:  Thornapple River Watershed Council; Caledonia, MI
The project will provide support for the installation of riparian buffers and sediment and nutrient control structures along a designated trout stream in the Thornapple River Watershed. This installation will  also serve as an education-demonstration site for agricultural Best Management Practices for water quality.

$15,000 Grant Recipient:  Dan River Basin Association; Eden, NC
The goal of the project is to improve the quality of the Dan River by protecting streamside buffers, promoting the Purple Sweet Potato as a less chemical-intensive replacement for  the traditional tobacco crop, monitoring/reducing bacteria levels and assisting locally-based efforts to identify opportunities to conserve riparian land.

$5,000 Grant Recipient:  Butler Soil and Water Conservation District; Hamilton, Ohio
The Edgewood Storm Water Project is an innovative collaboration to preserve the quality of the Great Miami River Buried Valley Aquifer  by treating storm water infiltrating  the ground. Located on the property of a soon to be constructed area high school, the project will also serve as an awareness and educational model to the school, local community and region.

$1,000 Grant Recipient:  Porter County Soil and Water District; Valparaiso, IN
The west branch of the Cornell Ditch has become an erosive gulley that deposits enormous amounts of sediment, runoff and debris off-site. The project will create a ditch with wetland plants and grasses to trap nutrients and chemicals from traveling downstream which will also reduce flooding and create a shelter and food source for wildlife.

$1,000 Grant Recipient:  Valley Stewardship Network; Viroqua, WI
This project will educate citizens and promote local Best Management Practices implementation, assist farmers in obtaining cost-share assistance and document the change in the watershed health through water quality monitoring in the Kickapoo watershed.

$1,000 Grant Recipient:  Gila Watershed Partnership; Safford, AZ
The San Francisco and Blue Rivers have been greatly affected by E. coli bacteria. The group will work to clean the rivers by training the community in field research methods, developing and conducting an education program and bringing local groups together into a coordinated watershed improvement council. 

$1,000 Grant Recipient:  Louisiana Environmental Action Network/Lower Mississippi Riverkeeper; Baton Rouge, LA
By educating the agricultural communities in the Ouachita River Watershed on proper farming techniques for fertilizer use, the project will reduce the nutrient runoff of agricultural operations that flow into the Ouachita River and ultimately reduce the nutrient overload in the Gulf of Mexico’s Dead Zone.

$1,000 Grant Recipient:  Cumberland River Compact; Nashville, TN
The Cumberland River Compact’s project will provide tools for all types of farmers to aid in improving water and land stewardship, increasing profits and reducing overall inputs on  Tennessee and Kentucky farms.