California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
The Bureau of Reclamation has release two funding opportunities for water management entities to develop drought contingency plans and build long-term solutions to drought. These two funding opportunities are part of Reclamation’s Drought Response Program.
The drought contingency planning funding opportunity is for applicants to request up to $200,000 to update an existing drought plan or to develop a new drought plan. Additionally, applicants may also request technical assistance from Reclamation for the development of elements of the Drought Contingency Plan. States, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, and other organizations with water or power delivery authority, located in the 17 Western United States and Hawaii, are eligible for this funding opportunity. It is available by searching for www.grants.gov and accessing opportunity number BOR-DO-17-F009.
The second opportunity — the drought resiliency projects — funding opportunity is for projects that will increase the reliability of water supply; improve water management; implement systems to facilitate the voluntary sale, transfer, or exchange of water; and, provide benefits for fish, wildlife, and the environment to mitigate impacts caused by drought.
Applications may be submitted under one of two funding groups for resiliency projects:
- Funding Group I: up to $300,000 for projects that can be completed within two years
- Funding Group II: up to $750,000 for larger projects that can be completed within three years.
For drought resiliency projects, organizations with water or power delivery authority in the 17 Western United States or United States Territories (as identified in the Reclamation Act of June 17, 1902), are invited to maximize and leverage their resources by cost sharing with Reclamation. Applicants must also provide a 50 percent non-Federal cost-share. It is available at www.grants.gov; search for funding opportunity number BOR-DO-17-F010.
Applications are due on February 14, 2017, by 4 p.m. MST as indicated in the funding opportunities. The fiscal year 2017 budget request includes $4 million for the Drought Response Program.
Reclamation and its partners have worked to develop a sustainable water and power future for the West for more than 100 years. The Drought Response Program is now part of the Department of the Interior’s WaterSMART Program, which focuses on improving water conservation and sustainability, while helping water resource managers make sound decisions about water use. This program is one of dozens of funding opportunities and partnerships made available by Reclamation each year. For more information go to: www.grants.gov
