Calleguas Watershed | Creating Connections

2015 IRWM Implementation Grant Program

Eight Things That Will Shock First-Time IRWM Project Proponents:
First you will be dismayed, but then you will be glad you read this first.

Veterans of the Integrated Regional Water Managment (IRWM) project selection process often look back with nostalgia at their first "scared straight" powerpoint presentation. This presentation provides an overview of project eligibility and grant administration.  It's best to know these facts before wasting your time preparing project applications that later crash into the facts. Some dispiriting highlights:

• Projects must be ready to proceed for implementation by April 1, 2016 and complete by October 31, 2020.
• Project proponents split the cost of consultant services to prepare the formal application. This can run up to $30,000 per project and there is no promise that you'll get a grant.
• The project suit requires a 25% funding match.  A higher match is more competitive.
• Project proponents only receive grant funds after documenting that all match funds have been spent.  
• Costs are reimbursed after expenditures are made, not paid in advance. Reimbursement has taken 6 to 18 months and the state retains 5-10% of reimbursements pending project completion.
• Prevailing wage and labor compliance programs are required.
• The project must have measurable benefits that you will monitor and report to the state for the next decade.
• And, the application takes a lot of work.  How much?  Take a look a previous WCVC IRWM applications and you'll get a better sense of what you are in for.  Your project must be well developed with the details nailed down.  The consultants can't make this stuff up; you will be in constant communication providing information and reviewing drafts for most of the summer.

Still interested?  That's wonderful because it means that you have a project that is ready to go, plenty of time on your hands in the months ahead, a zest for details, an inordinate love of paperwork, proven experience in project delivery, and an organization that can front a lot of money while waiting for the State to pay you back.  So far, so good.  You are all in, but here are some other things to consider.

• Does your project require discretionary approvals from other agencies?
• Do other agencies have to complete their projects to make yours work?
• Is your money all lined up?
• Are there people who would rather not see you succeed? (This is often an indicator of controversy.)
• Are there significant differences of opinion about how your project affects environmental issues or water rights?
• Are there aspects of your project that you would prefer not to discuss and hope others will overlook?  Are you pinning your success on finding the right spin?

Most projects require the cooperation of others to succeed.  In day-to-day life, lack of cooperation may mean delay, or some fence-mending, to move on.  In the IRWM grant world, if you are unable to deliver on a project as described in an application, the consequences involve many more people and may require that you withdraw your project with accompanying financial consequences.  So please think hard about what parts of your project lie outside your control.  If there are significant unknowns, it's better to spend your time developing your project for future funding opportunities.

In other news, the Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County (WCVC) has recently issued a revised map of disadvantaged communities within our IRWM planning area.  Here is an explanation of the Revised Disadvantaged Community Map courtesy of Lynn Rodriguez. "The Department of Water Resources recently adjusted the base income level for what qualifies an area as a disadvantaged community (DAC).  The state’s median household income  levels have been modified to reflect the American Community Survey 2009—2013 5-year estimates.  A DAC is an area where the median household income level of residents is less than 80% of the statewide median household income.  The threshold for a DAC designation is now $48,875 – almost $500 less than the previous levels.   Accordingly we have revised our DAC map (Figure 3-17 in the 2014 WCVC IRWM Plan).  If you compare the revised map with the map in the 2014 IRWM Plan, you will see that we have a fairly significant increase in the area within the County that is now considered DAC.  One reason DAC areas in our County increased was that we were able to use the finer scale Census Block Group data rather than Census Tract data.  This change increases the area eligible for DAC projects (projects that help address critical water supply or water quality needs). A significant benefit to projects within a DAC is that those projects do not have a funding match requirement in some grant programs."