The Water Desk is now accepting applications for their second round of grants to support independent and staff journalists, as well as media outlets, covering Western water issues and the Colorado River Basin. The region of coverage spans Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—as well as the borderlands of Northwest Mexico.
They are offering two grantmaking programs:
1) Micro-grants of up to $2,000. These are meant to pay for discrete expenses that are necessary to produce content or advance a journalist’s professional development. Applications for micro-grants will be reviewed on a rolling basis. They plan to make decisions on micro-grant applications within one month of their submission.
2) Standard grants of up to $10,000. The standard grants support in-depth reporting efforts that lead to the publication or broadcast of content. The deadline for applications for the 2020 standard grants is August 17. They anticipate announcing recipients of the standard grants in mid-September.
You can learn more about the grants, which are only open to journalists, and how to apply on this page.
The Water Desk welcomes and supports proposals from journalists representing a wide range of media: newspapers, magazines, websites, video, television, radio, podcasts and other channels. Because water is intertwined with so many issues, we are open to proposals covering a broad spectrum of topics, including climate change, biodiversity, pollution, public health, environmental justice, food, agriculture, drinking water, economics, recreation and more.
The Water Desk’s mission is to increase the volume, depth and power of journalism connected to Western water issues. Based at the University of Colorado Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism, The Water Desk launched in April 2019 with support from the Walton Family Foundation, which is providing the funding for these grants. The Water Desk maintains a policy of strict editorial independence from our funders, as well as from the University of Colorado Boulder.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Susan Moran, a consultant to The Water Desk, at susan.moran@colorado.edu.