Area benefits from Climate Smart Communities grant program

MID-HUDSON – Communities along the Hudson River including Cold Spring and Philipstown, will benefit from Climate Smart Communities Grants that are assisting municipalities in addressing climate change.

State Environmental Commissioner Amanda Lefton said the grants address issues related to reducing flood risk by relocating or retrofitting critical infrastructure, reducing emissions from food waste, and engineering feasibility studies, among many other actions that target decreasing pollution and improving health and community resilience. 

“The stipends enable municipalities to take meaningful actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect clean air, and reduce risks to their communities from flooding and other climate impacts,” she said. “Reducing harmful emissions while advancing climate equity in communities statewide is critical to improving health and quality of life for New Yorkers.”

In Putnam County, the Village of Cold Spring will be receiving $75,000 for the “Climate Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Plan” to examine flooding issues and develop adaptation strategies that emphasize nature-based approaches while the Hudson River Maritime Museum has been awarded $20,674 for the “Hudson River Stewards – Water Story” project to create new content for its Hudson River Stewards school program, combining academic learning modules, on-site discovery modules, and experiential modules aboard the museum’s solar vessel ‘Solaris.’

Riverkeeper received two grants—one for $75,000 for a “Drinking Water Source Protection Monitoring” project to monitor water quality in the Hudson River segments that provide drinking water to seven Hudson River communities and a second for $210,000 for a “Final Engineering Design for Walsh Road Dam Removal on Quassaick Creek” to finalize engineering plans and permits for removal of the obsolete Walsh Road Dam in the Town of New Windsor.

Clarkson University earned a $75,000 grant for the “Fishkill Creek Watershed Characterization” project to produce a watershed characterization for Fishkill Creek that helps support long-term watershed planning and stewardship.  

City of Peekskill was awarded $38,746 for a “Source Water Quality and Resilience” project to complete water quality classification for source water in the Peekskill Hollow Creek watershed which includes Putnam Valley.