Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation Distr

Cuyahoga Soil & Water Conservation District, a U.S. state government entity based in Cleveland, Ohio, operates as a federal grant recipient delivering stream habitat restoration, bank stabilization, and watershed education services to the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The organization does not hold federal contracts and competes exclusively in the federal grant space, where it holds the status of a state-level conservation district rather than a private-sector firm.

The district's federal award footprint centers on environmental restoration and educational programming within the Cuyahoga River Area of Concern and Lake Erie Basin. As a prime recipient, Cuyahoga SWCD leads cooperative agreements and project grants (55% of recent awards) focused on in-stream habitat work, riparian restoration, and teacher professional development. A representative prime award is a $1.237 million cooperative agreement from EPA Region 5 under the Geographic Programs — Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 66.469), effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2027, which funds stream habitat restoration and bank stabilization on Euclid Creek West Branch to address beneficial use impairments on the Cuyahoga River AOC; deliverables include a Quality Assurance Project Plan, restoration contract documents, in-stream habitat structures, and stream bank stabilization across 2,236 linear feet and 3.9 acres of riparian habitat. Cuyahoga SWCD also received a project grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (awarded October 1, 2024, with completion September 30, 2026) to implement meaningful watershed education experiences across all seventh-grade students in the Bedford City School District, and an earlier NOAA cooperative agreement (awarded May 1, 2022, completed October 31, 2023) titled First Rings First that delivered watershed education training, tours, certifications, and curricula to the First Ring Schools Collaborative serving low-income communities of color in the Cuyahoga River AOC.

Customer concentration is high and stable. The Environmental Protection Agency (including EPA Region 5) accounts for 4 awards; the Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provides 2 awards; and the Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service provides 1 award. The organization also functions as a sub-recipient (45% of recent awards) on federal grants passed through the State of Ohio Office of Budget and Management, receiving sub-awards for Cuyahoga AOC facilitation services, stream restoration, floodplain restoration, and Area of Concern support (awards from September 2021 through April 2024). Recent activity has been episodic across the past five years — one award in 2018, two in 2021, three in 2022, two in 2024, and one in 2026 — with combined obligations across all federal sources totaling $4.3 million and only one award (the current EPA cooperative agreement) reaching completion within the next twenty-four months.