EPA awards grants to eligible shoreline cities to fund green infrastructure projects that will improve Great Lakes water quality.

• 2016 Grants
• FY 2014 Grants
• FY 2013 Grants

2016 Grants

• East Chicago, Indiana ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Jeorse Park to reduce stormwater runoff and filter sediment, nutrients, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants before they reach the beach and Lake Michigan. These new instillations will prevent over 290,000 gallons of unfiltered runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
• Ashtabula, Ohio ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Walnut Beach to re-establish a functional, connected dune system to prevent untreated stormwater from flowing across the beach and directly into Lake Erie.
• Cleveland, Ohio ($175,000) will install bioretention cells at Wildwood Park to capture and treat stormwater runoff and will prevent some 660,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
• Huron, Ohio ($125,439) will install green infrastructure at Lake Front Park that will filter sediment, nutrients, chemicals, bacteria and other contaminants, and prevent nearly 600,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
• Sandusky, Ohio ($175,000) will design and construct rain gardens and install a meadow at Lions Park to convey, capture and treat stormwater. The project will reduce over 280,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Erie.
• Vermillion, Ohio ($175,000) will install green infrastructure at Main Street Beach to reduce stormwater runoff and pollutant discharges to Lake Erie. Proposed projects include the installation of permeable pavement, bioretention areas and a tree pit that will prevent over 450,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from discharging into the lake.
• Duluth, Minnesota ($58,000) will construct rain gardens, plant trees and restore shoreline buffer at Park Point to prevent approximately 89,000 gallons of untreated stormwater runoff from reaching Lake Superior.
• Evans, New York ($172,125) will install rain gardens and open swales in Evans Town Park to reduce bacteria at the beach and prevent approximately 221,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from reaching Lake Erie.
• Algoma, Wisconsin ($175,000) will install infiltration basins, rain gardens and permeable pavement at Crescent Beach that will prevent more than 110,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
• Ashland, Wisconsin ($175,000) will construct infiltration swales, plant native vegetation and replenish beaches over 2.9 acres of land at Maslowski Beach to prevent some 219,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Superior.
• Manitowoc, Wisconsin ($167,603) will install green infrastructure at Blue Rail Marina Beach to replenish the beach and improve nearshore water quality, preventing over 8,000 gallons of untreated runoff from reaching Lake Michigan.
• Two Rivers, Wisconsin ($175,000) will construct wetlands at Neshotah Beach North that will improve water quality through natural filtering and reduce nutrient discharges, preventing over 10 million gallons of stormwater from reaching Lake Michigan.
• Wind Point, Wisconsin ($122,691) will install bio-infiltration, plant native vegetation and replenish beaches at Wind Point Lighthouse Beach to reduce fecal pollution and prevent some 195,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from reaching Lake Michigan.

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FY 2014 Grants

2014 Recipients - Total Funding Amount: $1,811,368

• Euclid, Ohio, ($174,206) will construct rain gardens and bioswales at Sims Park to prevent the discharge of over 500,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Erie each year. Bioretention ponds and porous concrete will also be installed at a downtown parking lot to prevent the discharge of an additional 88,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Erie each year.
• Mentor, Ohio, ($250,000) will install porous pavement and construct bioswales at the Mentor Lagoons Marina and Nature Preserve to prevent the discharge of about 860,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Mentor Marsh and Lake Erie each year.
• Sandusky, Ohio, ($125,958) will construct bioswales, plant trees and install porous pavement at the downtown Jackson Street parking lot to prevent the discharge of 1.5 million gallons of untreated stormwater into Sandusky Bay each year.
• Highland Park, Illinois, ($88,775) will install porous pavement at Rosewood Park Beach to prevent the discharge of 18,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year.
• Wilmette, Illinois, ($8,000) will plant trees to intercept rainwater and facilitate filtration, which will prevent the discharge of about 40,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year when the trees mature.
• Michigan City, Indiana, ($224,823) will construct rain gardens, bioswales, plant native trees, and install porous pavement along six blocks of Wabash Street to prevent the discharge of 30,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Trail Creek and Lake Michigan each year.
• Muskegon, Michigan, ($110,448) will construct a wetland, a bioswale and rain gardens to prevent the discharge of over 5 million gallons of untreated stormwater into Muskegon Lake and Lake Michigan each year.
• Manitowoc, Wisconsin, ($89,699) will construct a rain garden along the Blue Rail Marina Beach to prevent the discharge of 115,000 gallons of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan each year.
• Oak Creek, Wisconsin, ($250,000) will install porous pavement in a parking area and construct a bioretention pond on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan to prevent the discharge of over 1 million gallons of untreated stormwater into the lake each year. The conversion of this former industrial brownfield into a city park will provide public access to the shoreline for the first time in 80 years.
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin, ($239,459) will construct bioswales near storm sewer outfalls at King Beach and Deland Park Beach to prevent the direct discharge of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan and to improve water quality for beachgoers.
• Superior, Wisconsin, ($250,000) will construct a wetland near Superior Bay to reduce the amount of stormwater that reaches the combined sewer system and would otherwise overflow into Lake Superior.

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FY 2013 Grants

In 2013, EPA awarded Shoreline Cities Grants totaling just under $7 million to 16 cities with populations greater than 50,000.

• Chicago, Ill. ($1,000,000) - The city will use $812,000 to install bioswales and permeable pavement in a parking area at Montrose Beach. This green infrastructure project will retain and filter over 4 million gallons of water each year and will reduce the discharge of untreated stormwater into Lake Michigan. In addition, the city will use $188,000 to install green infrastructure along Leland Avenue, a street that runs through Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood toward the lakefront. This project will prevent almost 900,000 gallons of untreated stormwater from entering the city’s combined sewer system each year and will help prevent basement flooding in nearby homes.
• Buffalo, N.Y. ($500,000) - The city of Buffalo and the Buffalo Sewer Authority received a $500,000 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to improve water quality in Lake Erie. Buffalo will use the EPA grant, along with $500,000 in funding from Empire State Development, to construct green infrastructure projects along a 1-mile section of Niagara Street. The projects include the installation of porous asphalt, stormwater planters, rain gardens and the reduction of impervious pavements. This section of roadway, which is a part of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail/National Scenic Byway, currently generates untreated stormwater that drains directly to the Black Rock Navigation Channel and the Niagara River. The green infrastructure projects will capture stormwater from approximately 15 acres along the Niagara Street right of way, resulting in the control of up to 4.9 million gallons of stormwater runoff per year and a significant reduction in the amount of road salt, nutrients, oil and grease and sediment flowing into the Niagara River.
• Detroit, Mich. ($1,000,000) - The city received a grant for two green infrastructure projects in the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department’s Near East Side Drainage District. The first project will transform publicly owned vacant lots on Detroit’s Lower Eastside into green space consisting of meadows, trees and other vegetation. This will reduce the discharge of untreated stormwater into the city’s combined sewer system by approximately 100,000 gallons during significant storms. The second project involves installing green infrastructure at Detroit’s Recovery Park to reduce the discharge of untreated stormwater to the sewer system by approximately 1 million gallons during significant storms. The city received matching funds from the Erb Family Foundation and Kresge Foundation.
• St. Clair Shores, Mich. ($250,000) -  The city will install rain gardens and porous pavement at Kyte Monroe Park. The green infrastructure will capture and treat stormwater runoff which flows through the storm sewer directly to Lake St. Clair. This project will prevent approximately 95,000 gallons of polluted water from entering Lake St. Clair during significant storms.
• Duluth, Minn. ($250,000) - The grant will be used for green stormwater management projects at three locations: the Lake Superior Zoo, the Atlas Industrial Brownfield Park and Chambers Grove Park. The State of Minnesota, the city of Duluth, the Duluth Economic Development Authority, the Duluth Seaway Port Authority, and the U.S. Army Reserve will provide contributions totaling $250,000 to supplement the EPA grant. Installing green infrastructure at these sites will retain an estimated 200,000 gallons of stormwater and greatly reduce the amount of untreated stormwater discharged into the St. Louis River and the Lake Superior Basin.
• Green Bay, Wis. ($500,000) - The city’s Parks, Recreation and Forestry Department will use the funds to install permeable pavement and bio-filter gardens in the Bay Beach Park to prevent untreated stormwater runoff from contaminating Lake Michigan. Installing green infrastructure will retain an estimated 280,300 gallons of stormwater.
• Milwaukee, Wis. ($1,000,000) - Milwaukee will use the EPA grant, in combination with $2.1 million in city funding, to install porous pavement that will filter stormwater and reduce the amount of untreated runoff discharged to the Kinnickinnic, Menomonee and Milwaukee Rivers that flow into the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern and Lake Michigan.
• Racine, Wis. ($250,000) - Racine will use the EPA grant, in combination with funding from the city ($101,190) and the Fund for Lake Michigan ($167,100) to construct green infrastructure projects in two city parks on the shore of Lake Michigan. The city will install a series of bioswales and bioretention basins to capture and filter stormwater before it is discharged into the lake.
• Cleveland, Ohio ($500,000) - The city will install green infrastructure to absorb rainfall that will reduce the discharge of untreated stormwater near the city’s West Side Market to Lake Erie.
• Lakewood, Ohio ($107,500) - The city will install bioretention planters in Madison Park. The project will reduce polluted stormwater runoff by an estimated 403,769 gallons annually and also reduce overflows from the city’s combined sewer system to Lake Erie.
• Lorain, Ohio ($250,000) - The city will improve stormwater management at Lakeview Park on Lake Erie. The new system will be located at the west end of Lakeview Beach and will consist of a wetland sand filter approximately 30 feet wide and 120 feet long, that will work with a disinfection-based pretreatment device. The improvements will reduce the amount of bacteria in stormwater being directly discharged to Lake Erie and will reduce the frequency of bacteria-related beach closures.
• Toledo, Ohio ($500,000) - The city will install bioswales (landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water) and rain gardens along the city’s Silver Creek watershed and retrofit the city’s Cullen Park with sand filters and vernal ponds. This project will prevent an estimated 645,000 gallons of untreated sediment and stormwater from discharging to Lake Erie.

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