In light of the recent White House executive orders and Office of Management and Budget memo to pause all federal aid and grant funding (and then to unpause it) and to rescind the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, environmental and justice work across the country has been thrown into disarray.
About $2 million of ShoreRivers’ current grant funding may be affected by these developments, but I want to assure our supporters and partners that ShoreRivers remains financially strong and strategically focused on our mission to achieve thriving rivers cherished by all Eastern Shore communities.
ShoreRivers is a Maryland-based organization with strong partnerships in Delaware, where the headwaters of some of our rivers lie. The majority of our government funding comes from state sources as opposed to federal. This means that the immediate effect of the executive orders on ShoreRivers is less significant than what some of our partner nonprofits are currently experiencing.
We are grateful for our state’s considerable financial commitment to water quality initiatives and for the sustained donations from our community members — these are what have enabled us to build a healthy nonprofit that can weather fluctuations like a global pandemic and changes in administrations. I want to sincerely thank you all for helping us build this strong financial foundation.
However, we have had to put a number of projects on hold as we scramble to figure out which funding sources have been frozen or deleted. Some of our funders can no longer access federal dollars already committed to our organization for work that is underway.
These are projects aimed at assisting our urban and rural communities — regardless of political affiliation — such as addressing stormwater and flooding issues with municipalities, planting meadows and wetlands in public spaces, and providing incentive payments and technical assistance to agricultural landowners who install best management practices.
One example of particular concern is the almost certain loss of significant funding for ShoreRivers staff to connect with and provide technical assistance to 15–20 smaller nonprofits that offer social or educational services in our local communities. Partners in this effort include churches, after-school centers, museums, housing organizations, and small townships.
We were planning on working with these groups on projects that improve river health and offer experiences in nature, as well as provide health and educational benefits to their constituents.
Now the trust we have built and the projects we envisioned with our partners are at risk as federal dollars are rescinded. These are good investments that should not be revoked: our tax dollars at work to improve the communities in which we live and the rivers we cherish.
In light of these challenges we need your continued and direct support. We urge you to reach out directly to your congressional representatives to express your support for consistent, reliable funding that benefits our local towns, our natural resources, and the communities who call the Eastern Shore home.
Reach out to your Riverkeepers to get more involved in advocating for greater protections of our waterways. Thank you for standing with us and for making your voice heard in support of our shared future.
Isabel Hardesty
Executive Director
