Community Partnerships Grant Program – Southern Lake Michigan (CPGP)

Community Partnerships Grant Program – Southern Lake Michigan (CPGP) is sponsored by Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission (NIRPC). Supports community-driven projects in Northwest Indiana focused on housing, economic mobility, and local development needs.

Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission: Great Lakes Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission Community Partnership Grant Program - Southern Lake Michigan NIRPC is partnering with the Alliance for the Great Lakes (Alliance) and others to administer a new funding opportunity under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI).

The newly formed Community Partnerships Grant Program will support implementation of GLRI projects in eligible communities where these projects are needed most. In 2027, Alliance plans to award a total of $1,125,000, for final design and permitting projects, that can be awarded up to $300,00, with a total of 3-6 awards anticipated.

Projects supported through this grant program will fund eligible project area, in communities where GLRI projects are needed most, in partnership with local organizations and agencies, with the long-term goal of securing healthier Great Lakes communities for generations to come.

We invite applicants to think creatively about the spaces in their community where projects are needed most to capture rainwater, to reduce flooding, clean and filter water before it enters rivers and lakes, creat habitat for birds, pollinators like butterflies, and other wildlife.

Applicants can potentially pair these projects with opporunities for local workforce development, stakeholder engagement, financial and project management capacity building, and long-term maintenance. Lots of types of projects could occur on many different types of sites.

Letter of Interest (LOI): Due September 4, 2026 Full proposal: Due November 13, 2026 Visit Community Partnerships Grant Program - Alliance for the Great Lakes for full details. Questions or requests to learn more about the support provided should be emailed to CommunityPartnershipGrant@greatlakes. org .

Invasive Species and the Chicago Area Waterway System Since 2010, the Great Lakes Commission has been leading efforts to prevent Asian carp and other aquatic invasive species (AIS) from entering the Great Lakes basin from the Mississippi River watershed through the critical Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS).

The GLC served as convener (effective in 2019, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission has transitioned to the convener role) and member of the CAWS Species Stakeholder Group, a regional stakeholder forum seeking the best short and long-term solutions to the threat of Asian carp and other AIS passing through the CAWS while maintaining current uses of the system.

The CAWS-AIS consists of representatives from regional public and private stakeholders, representing governmental, commercial, recreational, business, and environment sectors. From 2014-2016, the CAWS Aquatic Invasive Species Stakeholder Group developed a series of recommendations for President Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress on near and long-term actions to prevent AIS from entering the Great Lakes through the CAWS.

The GLC also led technical analyses; provided input on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study; and conducted a study of financing options. In 2012, the GLC and the Great Lakes and St.

Lawrence Cities Initiative released a report entitled “Restoring the Natural Divide” that outlines engineering options for separating the CAWS to prevent AIS movement and examines potential improvements to commercial navigation, recreational boating, flood and stormwater management, and water quality.

Evidence suggests that two species of invasive carp — silver and bighead — are poised to invade the Great Lakes basin through the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). A federally led Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) is managing the implementation of short and long-term actions to combat their spread into the Great Lakes basin.

An electric dispersal barrier system is the only structural mechanism currently in place to prevent their migration through the CAWS. Extensive monitoring and fish removal efforts, led by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and its federal partners, are important – and so far – successful strategies to reduce the risk of population spread. In 2012, the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes and St.

Lawrence Cities Initiative completed a $2 million investigation that developed options for separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin in the CAWS as a potential long-term solution to the threat of AIS transfer. It also evaluated the costs, impacts, and improvements needed to maintain or enhance beneficial uses of the waterways.

As part of the effort, an Advisory Committee, now known as the CAWS Aquatic Invasive Species Stakeholder Group, was established to secure engagement from stakeholders and public agencies. The CAWS-AIS continued to meet to review key technical issues and provide input to federal agencies working on the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) and related efforts.

The GLMRIS report presented several structural and non-structural alternatives to prevent the transfer of AIS through the CAWS but did not recommend a preferred solution. Following GLMRIS, the AIS Group worked to reach consensus on a set of recommendations, which took the form of three letters, to advance progress on this issue.

In particular, the committee is closely tracking a feasibility study on establishing a single point to control one-way, upstream AIS transfer (i.e., Mississippi River basin into the Great Lakes basin) near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois.

The CAWS Aquatic Invasive Species Stakeholder Group is the only forum that brings together a diverse spectrum of stakeholders in a structured process to consider and evaluate continued steps toward a feasible plan to protect the Great Lakes from AIS while maintaining the diverse and important functions of the CAWS.

Brandon Road Project U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Brandon Road Project Website Letters and Reports The CAWS Aquatic Invasive Species Stakeholder Group (formerly known as the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) Advisory Committee) initiated its current consensus-building effort in May 2014.

Since that time, the Committee has met 10 times and released a series of consensus letters to the President and U.S. Congress outlining their recommendations: CAWS Stakeholder GLRMIS Work Plan ONE WAY SOUTHBOUND Letter to USACE (October 2020) (PDF) CAWS Advisory Committee letter to President Obama with recommendations on long-term actions (January 2016) (PDF) CAWS Advisory Committee letter to President Obama with recommendations on the Brandon Road Feasibility Study (August 2015) (PDF) CAWS Advisory Committee letter to the Great Lakes Congressional Delegation with recommendations for short-term actions (August 2014) (PDF) Technical Reports Prepared by HDR As part of the CAWS Advisory Committee process, committee members defined a series of questions and information needs.

The below report summarizes the technical investigations conducted by HDR assessing the risk of invasive species transfer and impacts to navigation relative to certain control measures, as well as a high level summary of background information presented to the committee regarding flood risk and water quality, including CSOs and contaminated sediments.

Summary of Technical Evaluations – November 2015 (PDF) Regional Cost Share and Institutional Mechanisms Case Study – April 2016 (PDF) Scope Outline of Potential CAWS & Lake Michigan Hydrologic, Hydraulic, and Water Quality Investigation – October 2016 (PDF) Restoring the Natural Divide: Separating the Great Lakes And Mississippi River Basins in the Chicago Area Waterway System In 2010, the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St.

Lawrence Cities Initiative identified engineering options for Chicago’s waterway system that would prevent interbasin movement of AIS, including Asian carp. The study also examines potential improvements to the waterway’s roles in commercial navigation, recreational boating, flood and stormwater management, and water quality.

Restoring the Natural Divide Summary Report [PDF] Restoring the Natural Divide Technical Report [PDF] Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee CAWS AIS in the News East Peoria business men aims to take bite out of Asian carp population in Illinois River Journal Star , November 6, 2020 Asian carp have never breached a body of freshwater the size of Lake Michigan.

Here’s the bizarre way they could survive and thrive in the world’s fifth largest lake.

Chicago Tribune, Aug 13, 2019 Field Reports: States, feds meet on keeping Asian carp out of Great Lakes Duluth New Tribune, Jul 27, 2019 New Asian Carp Strategies Unveiled Door County Pulse, Jul 26, 2019 Michigan lawmakers head to Illinois to talk Asian carp, Great Lakes Michigan Radio npr, Jul 1, 2019 ‘Carp cowboys’ round of invasive Asian carp as Illinois, federal officials debate costly measures to protect Lake Michigan Chicago Tribune, Dec 6, 2018 CAWS Steering Committee Minutes 2021 This website is hosted by the State of Indiana but NIRPC is an independent unit of local government and is not a State agency.

Click here to learn more about NIRPC. Business Hours: 8:30 am - 4:30 pm