The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Basil Seggos August 27, announced more than $216,000 in grant funding for two projects in Columbia and Ulster counties. The purpose of the awards is to help communities prepare for and mitigate localized flooding, to improve water quality and to restore habitats in the Hudson River Estuary, according to a statement released by the department. Road Stream Crossing Management Plans in the towns of Austerlitz, Ghent and New Baltimore, Columbia County will receive an award of approximately $110,000, to identify and prioritize road-stream crossing replacement projects in the towns of Austerlitz, Ghent, and New Baltimore. The Municipal Road-Stream Crossings in the Lower Esopus Creek Watershed was awarded $106,000, to inventory and assess culverts within the Lower Esopus Watershed to develop management plans for the towns of Woodstock, Kingston, and Saugerties. The Hudson River Estuary Program was created in 1987 and focuses on the tidal Hudson and its watershed from the dam at Troy to the Verrazano Narrows in New York City. Read the full press release at DEC [dot] NY [dot] gov.