CDFW Selects 24 Ecosystem and Watershed Restoration, Protection Projects to share $27.8 Million

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) recently announced that 24 California projects will share $27.8 million from the department’s Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Prop. 1) Restoration Grant Programs. The funds have been made available through CDFW’s Prop. 1 Restoration Grant Programs Resiliency, Recovery and Response Proposal Solicitation Notice.

The $27.8 million was awarded through two programs. The Watershed Restoration Grant Program is receiving $23.9 million for projects of statewide importance outside of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. The remaining $3.9 million is being awarded to the Delta Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration Grant Program for projects that directly benefit the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

“CDFW has maintained an adaptive priority-setting approach each year under our Prop. 1 grant program, and we are pleased to fund a number of projects this year that support fire recovery as well as continuing restoration actions,” CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said.

Within the Watershed Restoration Grant Program funds were allocated in two categories:

Implementation Projects (in descending amount of funding):

• Rubber Dam No. 1 System Fish Passage Improvements Project – $5,000,0000 to Alameda County Water District
• Martis Wildlife Area Restoration Project – $3,280,656 to Truckee River Watershed Council
• West Stanislaus Irrigation District Fish Screen Project – $2,250,000 to West Stanislaus Irrigation District
• San Francisco Estuary Invasive Spartina Removal and Tidal Marsh Restoration Project, Phase II -$2,200,000 to California State Coastal Conservancy
• Upper Truckee River and Marsh Restoration Project – $1,700,066 to California Tahoe Conservancy
• Multi-benefit Floodplain Restoration at Dos Rios Ranch and Steenstrup Slough – $1,588,911 to River Partners
• Post Fire Forest Management and Sediment Reduction for Coho Recovery – $1,423,107 to Sonoma Resource Conservation District
• Grasslands Floodplain Restoration Implementation Project – $1,342,718 to American Rivers
• El Capitan Creek Fish Passage Restoration Implementation – $1,179,473 to California Department of Parks and Recreation
• Restoring Ecosystem Function in the Upper Salt River Watershed – $1,131,333 to Humboldt County Resource Conservation District
• The Road to Recovery: Redwood Complex Fire Restoration – Implementation – $656,902 to Mendocino County
• Reidy Creek Restoration and Beautification Project – $380,873 to The Escondido Creek Conservancy
• East Creek Restoration Project – $316,803 to Plumas Corporation
• Robin’s Nest Fire Recovery and Habitat Restoration Project – $301,600 to Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority

Planning Projects (in descending amount of funding):

• Mapping, Assessment and Planning for Recovery and Resiliency in Fire-Damaged Watersheds in the Thomas Fire and Whittier Fire Recovery Zones – $382,223 to Santa Barbara Botanic Garden
• Dos Pueblos Creek Restoration Designs – $222,104 to Earth Island Institute
• Cold Springs Debris Basin Capacity Improvement Project – $139,744 to Santa Barbara County Flood Control & Water Conservation District
• Romero Creek Debris Basin Capacity Improvement Project – $139,744 to Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
• San Ysidro Creek Debris Basin Capacity Improvement Project – $139,744 to Santa Barbara County Flood Control and Water Conservation District
• The Road to Recovery: Redwood Complex Fire Restoration Planning – $88,382 to Mendocino County

Within the Delta Water Quality and Ecosystem Restoration Grant Program four projects will share in awards of nearly $3.9 million for scientific studies (in descending amount of funding):

• High Resolution Temporal and Spatial Mapping of Mercury in Surface Waters of the San Francisco Bay Delta – $1,708,808 to University of California, Merced
• Eyes and Ears: Using Lens and Otolith Isotopes to Quantify Critical Rearing Habitats for Salmon Viability – $838,279 to University of California, Davis
• Pathogen Screening and Health Status of Outmigrating Chinook Salmon in the California Delta – $733,884 to University of California, Davis
• Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Bloom Toxins in Freshwater and Estuarine Invertebrates: Implications for Managed Species, Their Communities, and Human Health Risks – $612,115 to Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board

The 2018 CDFW solicitation for projects included a specific focus on large-scale wildfire responses and Central Valley salmon resilience and recovery. These projects represent priorities outlined in the 2018 Solicitation and the California Water Action Plan. Funding for these projects comes from Prop. 1 bond funds, a portion of which are allocated annually through the California State Budget Act.

“We are proud to have funded over 100 on-the-ground projects in the four years since the implementation of Prop. 1,” said CDFW’s Bonham. “These are projects that will continue to deliver benefits to our fish and wildlife, and the habitats where they thrive.”