The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is now seeking proposals for its Clean Water Fund Competitive Grants Program.
Donor Name: Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR)
State: Minnesota
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/24/2023
Size of the Grant:
- BWSR Projects and Practices Grant: Up to $6,960,800
- BWSR Drinking Water subgrant: Up to $1,740,200
Details:
Types of Grants
- Project and Practices Grants
- This grant makes an investment in on-the-ground projects and practices that will protect or restore water quality in lakes, rivers or streams, or will protect groundwater or drinking water. Examples include stormwater practices, agricultural conservation practices, feedlot related practices, lakeshore and stream bank stabilization, stream restoration, and SSTS upgrades
- Drinking Water Grant
- This grant makes an investment in land treatment projects and practices that will protect or improve drinking water sources. Surface water (streams, rivers, and lakes) and groundwater (aquifers) can both serve as sources of drinking water.
Funding Information
- BWSR Projects and Practices Grant: Up to $6,960,800
- BWSR Drinking Water subgrant: Up to $1,740,200
Eligibility Criteria
Eligible applicants for competitive grants include:
- Local governments (counties, watershed districts, watershed management organizations, and soil and water conservation districts or local government joint power boards) working under a current State approved and locally adopted local water management plan, comprehensive watershed management plan or soil and water conservation district comprehensive plan
- Municipalities are eligible if they: 1) have a water plan that has been approved by a watershed district or a watershed management organization as provided under Minn. Stat. 103B.235; or 2) adopted an approved comprehensive watershed management plan developed under Minn. Stat. 103B.801
- Counties in the seven-county metropolitan area are eligible if they have adopted a county groundwater plan under Minn Stat. 103B.255 or county comprehensive plan that has been approved by the Metropolitan Council under Minn. Stat. Chapter 473
- DRINKING WATER GRANT ONLY: Eligible entities include those listed in a) and c) above, as well as, municipalities if they have a state approved Minnesota Department of Health approved source water (drinking water) protection plan such as a wellhead protection plan, wellhead protection action plan or surface water intake protection plan (public water suppliers and rural water systems defined by Minn. Stat. 116A.01 Public Water Systems).
Specific Requirements of Project and Practices Grant
- Through the Nonpoint Priority Funding Plan, the following three high-level state priorities have been established for Clean Water Fund nonpoint implementation:
- Restore those waters that are closest to meeting state water quality standards
- Protect those high-quality unimpaired waters at greatest risk of becoming impaired
- Restore and protect water resources for public use and public health, including drinking water
- To meet the project assurances for streambank stabilization or stream restoration projects, applicants must commit to provide financial assurance from local sources for repairs and maintenance. Assurance (recommended at least 20 percent of total project cost) needs to be documented prior to work plan approval to ensure projects provide the proposed long-term clean water benefits
- Proposals must include a measurable goal. For projects proposed to help meet a Total Maximum Daily Load, measurable goals need to be quantified as the needed annual pollution load reduction
- SSTS project landowners must meet low-income thresholds. Applicants are strongly encouraged to use existing income guidelines from U.S. Rural Development as the basis for their definition of low income
- In-lake management activities must have completed a feasibility study that is attached to the eLINK grant application. The study must include:
- Lake and watershed information based on data that has been collected within the last 10-years (at minimum, include lake morphology and depth, summary of water quality information, and the assessment of aquatic invasive species);
- Description of internal load vs. external load nutrient reductions needed to meet the state’s water quality standard;
- History of projects completed in the lake’s watershed (if none have been completed, that should be stated), as well as other in-lake activities, if applicable;
- Cost benefit analysis of all options considered, and reasons given for why you are choosing the proposed activities;
- Projected effective life of the proposed activities;
- Expected water quality outcome of the proposed activity; and
- Plan for monitoring water quality to assure the proposed activity’s total phosphorus goal will be achieved during it’s effective life (monitoring plans should include monitoring through the effective life), and
- For activities related to rough fish (example carp), the feasibility study must also include:
- Methods used to estimate adult and juvenile carp populations;
- Description of the known interconnectedness of waterbodies (lakes, ponds, streams, wetlands, etc.);
- Identified nursery areas;
- Methods used to track carp movement;
- Proposed actions to limit recruitment and movement; and
- Proposed actions to reduce adult carp populations.
For more information, visit BWSR.
