The Water Desk is now accepting applications for grants of up to $10,000 to support media outlets and individual journalists covering water issues related to the Colorado River Basin.
The deadline for applications for the 2021 grants is Monday, November 1, 2021, at 11:59 pm Pacific.
This grantmaking program is only open to journalists (freelance and staff) and media outlets.
The Water Desk is interested in supporting a wide variety of media and journalistic approaches: newspapers, magazines, websites, video, television, radio, podcasts and other channels.
The Water Desk will support journalism that focuses on water issues involving the seven states of the Colorado River Basin—Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming—as well as the borderlands of Northwest Mexico.
The deadline for applications for the 2021 grants is Monday, November 1, 2021, at 11:59 pm Pacific. This grantmaking program is only open to journalists (freelance and staff) and media outlets.
Proposals related to areas that lie outside of the hydrologic boundaries of the Colorado River Basin’s watershed must have a strong connection to the basin and its water resources.
Because water is intertwined with so many issues, we are open to proposals covering a broad spectrum of topics: climate change, biodiversity, pollution, public health, environmental justice, food, agriculture, drinking water, economics, recreation and more. For this year’s grantmaking, we are especially interested in stories that explore inequities in our water systems related to race and/or income.
Funding for these grants comes from the Walton Family Foundation. As a journalistic initiative, The Water Desk maintains a policy of strict editorial independence from our funders, as well as from the University of Colorado Boulder. Funders of The Water Desk have no right to review nor influence stories or other journalistic content that is produced with the support of these grants.
Our grantmaking page has more details about the program. You can apply on this page.
Also be sure to check out our list of past grantees and the stories they’ve produced.
Questions? Please contact Water Desk Director Mitch Tobin at mitchtobin@colorado.edu