WCS Seeks Clear Visions for Clean Water:
New Funds for Bronx River Restoration

A River Runs Through It
If you’ve traveled through the Bronx, you’re probably familiar with the whiz of traffic along its miles and miles of highways, the clatter of its elevated trains, or the drone of machinery from its many power plants and factories. But when was the last time you heard the twitter of songbirds or the rush of falling water? Hop out of your car or off the train, and you’ll discover an oasis still quietly persists in the middle of this busy borough: the Bronx River. Along its banks, ducks and turtles amble, cyclists pedal, and maple and birch, honeysuckle and spicebush have begun to flourish once again. Named after the Swede Jonas Bronck, who set up a farm in the area in 1639 on 500 acres originally inhabited by Mohegan Indians, the Bronx has suffered many changes to its landscape over time, but one constant has been its historically important waterway.

Thanks to Congressman José E. Serrano and his ongoing dedication to the Bronx River, and in keeping with a commitment to the local environment, the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is working to restore this treasured habitat. Through NOAA’s Community-Based Restoration Program, WCS seeks to fund projects that share the partnership’s goals to rehabilitate the river as a vital recreational and educational resource for surrounding communities and to restore the river’s aquatic habitats. This includes the rehabilitation of river’s passageways, which will enable the reintroduction of fish such as river herring, which are known as diadromous for their migration between salt- and freshwater.

Restoration Project Guidelines
Through an appropriation secured by Representative Serrano, a projected $1.5 million will be available in the Round III grant solicitation for lower Bronx River habitat restoration and education projects. The geographical scope of this grant is the coastal waters and bordering lands of the lower Bronx River within the 16th Congressional District of New York. More specifically, we are actively seeking projects that 1) Result in actual on-the-ground restoration of living marine resource habitats including tidal marshes, mud flats, subtidal waters and riverine floodplain, channel, and riverbanks, and conservation of riverfront sites that directly benefit current or potential diadromous fish populations, and/or 2) Promote public education and outreach addressing diadromous fish reintroduction to and passage in the river.  Projects that create or enhance partnerships amongst different organizations are especially welcome and encouraged.

Projects funded through this three-year partnership will foster broad-based participation by and benefits to the local community. The partnership brings together citizen groups, non-governmental organizations, businesses, and government agencies to develop strategies and implement projects collaboratively.  Over time, this organizational cooperative is expected to strengthen ongoing working partnerships and create new relationships and innovative approaches towards living marine resource habitat restoration and land conservation involving the lower Bronx River community.

Contact Us
For more information, please contact Ms. Marla Krauss, Associate Manager for WCS/NOAA Regional Partnership for the Wildlife Conservation Society at 718-741-8136 or mkrauss@wcs.org

For Media Contact Information, Please Click Here.