For Florida municipalities
$200,000 in fee-free technical assistance for Florida municipalities
Our experts do the work directly, at no cost to your city: field science, independent engineering review, and planning-level cost estimates. No money changes hands, and there's no obligation.
Questions before you apply? Send our team a message.
What's covered
Advisory support your staff can rely on
Technical assistance covers the science and independent review that come before design and construction:
- Field investigation and measurement, such as water sampling
- Review of engineering analysis and modeling prepared by or for your municipality
- Conceptual planning and guidance on nature-based solutions
- Value engineering: reviewing proposed approaches to improve constructability and reduce cost
- Planning-level cost estimates
- Engagement with regulatory agencies, other governments, special districts, and affected property owners
- Public meetings and educational events
- Identifying grant funding
- Bringing university faculty and students into the research
C-HAWQ is not the engineer of record. We don't produce design documents or perform construction. Your municipality keeps its own engineers and contractors.
How it works
Three steps from first conversation to a project ready to move
- 1
Discovery call
We learn about your waterway and the specific issues your community faces.
- 2
Science and review
We provide fee-free field science, independent engineering review, and planning-level cost estimates for your project.
- 3
Support through completion
We help prepare project bids, build public support and identify grant funding. We stay involved until the project is complete, with drone monitoring, water quality sampling and reporting on results.
See how it works
Why cities trust C-HAWQ
Backed by science, not sales
Our advisory board is made up of university researchers, scientists, and engineers. We're partnered with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in the Gulf Ecosystem Initiative, a partnership with NOAA that maps canal decline and builds measures municipalities can use to plan restoration.
A partner, not a vendor
C-HAWQ is a science-first Florida nonprofit. We have no construction contract to win and no profit motive to defend.
University data on every project
University researchers collect data on every project, at no cost to your city.
Independent research
Independent research into Florida's canal and coastal ecosystems keeps decisions grounded in data, not politics.
Our scientific advisors
The experts behind every project
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Chris Stallings, PhD
Professor, USF College of Marine Science
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Holden Harris, PhD
University of Florida
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Michael Allen, PhD
Professor, UF School of Forest, Fisheries & Geomatics Sciences
Director, UF/IFAS Nature Coast Biological Station
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Christopher B. Burke, PhD, PE, D.WRE, Dist.M.ASCE NED
Professor, University of Illinois Chicago College of Engineering
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David Kaplan, PhD
Professor, UF Engineering School of Sustainable Infrastructure & Environment
Director, H.T. Odum Center for Wetlands
Associate Director, UF Center for Coastal Solutions
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Vincent Encomio, PhD
Extension Agent, Martin & St. Lucie Counties, Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida IFAS
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Mike Sipos
Collier County Extension Agent, Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida IFAS
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Holly Abeels
Extension Agent III, Brevard County, Florida Sea Grant, University of Florida IFAS
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Nick Tremmel, PE
Nature-Based Engineering Expert
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Jonathan Koepke, CPESC
Environmental Design Expert
Free tools for your staff
Start with the data we use
Our Residential Canal Dashboard maps Florida's canals down to the individual waterway. Filter by county or city, and export the data in the formats your mapping (GIS) team already uses.
Working on Marco Island? See our canal water quality results from free dock testing.
Get the dashboardReady to move your water quality project forward?
Apply online, or send our team a message with questions first.