Partnerships lead and support watershed-scale river and wetland restoration within their regions.
HVA-led Berkshire Clean, Cold & Connected Restoration Partnership Awarded $276,000
Mass.gov Press Release – October 9, 2025
Read the full release here.
BOSTON — The Healey-Driscoll Administration announced over $700,000 in grants to support partnerships to restore rivers and wetlands. This funding, provided by the Department of Fish and Game’s (DFG) Division of Ecological Restoration (DER), will support three established partnerships through DER’s Regional Restoration Partnerships Program. These partnerships advance locally led projects that provide clean water, reduce flood risk, and restore healthy habitat for fish and wildlife.
“Nature is our best defense against natural disasters. That’s why the work of these local environmental leaders in the Berkshires, Merrimack Valley, and Buzzards Bay is so important,” said Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Secretary Rebecca Tepper. “Removing aging dams, restoring wetlands and salt marshes, and expanding access to streams are some of our best strategies for preventing disastrous floods in our communities. By making progress through these partnerships, we’ll be protecting people’s livelihoods in the event of a storm.”
“Partnership is crucial to conserve our state’s irreplaceable biodiversity. By growing capacity at the local level for restoration, we can accelerate our progress statewide to bring our rivers, wetlands, and streams back to health for nature and people,” said DFG Commissioner Tom O’Shea. “With a regional approach, we can leverage lessons learned in one community to deliver better, faster solutions across the whole watershed. Thank you to our partners for their leadership, commitment, and collaboration.”
“Each of the three Regional Restoration Partnerships brings together communities, non-profit organizations, agencies, and others to lead restoration projects that are high priority for nature and for people,” said DER Director Beth Lambert. “Municipalities want to remove aging dams, upgrade failing culverts, and restore coastal wetlands, but often lack the capacity to do so. Regional Restoration Partnerships plug the capacity gap and get these projects done.”
DER’s Regional Restoration Partnerships Program helps build the capacity of regional organizations and regional planning agencies that work with cities, towns, and other local partners to lead watershed-scale ecological restoration within their regions. Pairing partners’ strengths with state investments empowers local communities to restore rivers and wetlands and help people and nature adapt to climate change. The Regional Restoration Partnerships Program is currently supporting three Partnerships, selected through a competitive bid in 2021, and has awarded $716,300 to continue that support:
Berkshire Clean, Cold, Connected Partnership: $276,000
- Lead Organization/Awardee: Housatonic Valley Association.
- The Berkshire Clean, Cold, Connected Partnership unites organizations, agencies, and communities to strengthen aquatic health and climate resilience in the Hoosic, Housatonic, and Farmington River watersheds. This award will expand regional capacity to deliver nature-based climate solutions, accelerate the removal of aquatic barriers, and restore coldwater habitat for native fish species.
“The Berkshire Clean, Cold, and Connected Partnership is doing critical work to strengthen climate resilience and restore aquatic ecosystems across the Berkshires,” said State Representative Leigh Davis (D-Great Barrington). “I’m grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration for investing in these important partnerships that advance meaningful restoration projects throughout the Commonwealth.”
“The Berkshires are a beautiful, biologically diverse part of the Commonwealth, and the region needs care and attention to make sure our watersheds are healthy. I admire the work of Berkshire Clean, Cold, Connected Partnerships to increase the scale of ecological restoration by building regional capacity to collaboratively restore degraded aquatic ecosystems and promote climate resiliency,” said State Representative Tricia Farley-Bouvier (D-2nd Berkshire). “I am grateful to the Healey-Driscoll Administration and the Department of Fish and Game for their attention to watershed-scale river and wetland restoration within the Berkshires.”
Read the full release at https://www.mass.gov/news/healey-driscoll-administration-awards-over-700k-to-support-regional-restoration-partnerships.
