The Bureau of Reclamation is currently accepting applications for its Central Valley Project Habitat & Facility Improvements.
Donor Name: Bureau of Reclamation
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/14/2022
Size of the Grant: Up to $40 million
Details:
The rivers of the Central Valley of California support populations of Fall Run Chinook, Spring Run Chinook, and Winter Run Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and Steelhead Trout (O. Mykiss). Water resources development, stream channel manipulations, and other anthropogenic actions have reduced and modified historical salmonid habitats. Gravel is regularly transported from spawning sites on the river and there is less utilizable rearing habitat. Infrastructure entrains juveniles, impairs passage, and increases susceptibility to predation.
Relevant purposes of the Central Valley Project Improvement Act (CVPIA) include:
- To protect, restore, and enhance fish, wildlife, and associated habitats in the Central Valley and Trinity River basins of California;
- To address impacts of the Central Valley Project (CVP) on fish, wildlife and associated habitats;
- To improve the operational flexibility of the CVP;
- To achieve a reasonable balance among competing demands for use of CVP water, including the requirements of fish and wildlife, agricultural, municipal and industrial and power contractors.
The objective of this NOFO is to execute the collaborative planning efforts for salmon in the ROD that rely on the CVPIA and the Science Integration Team(SIT) supporting implementation of the Fish Resource Area of the CVPIA.
The SIT Fundamental Objectives for the CVPIA Fish Resource Area are:
- Increasing the total salmonid juvenile biomass at Chipps Island
- Increasing the natural adult production of salmonids, and
- Increasing spatial diversity of target salmonid species Reclamation and the Service define these objectives as benefits to Chinook salmon (fall-run, spring-run, and winter-run) and Steelhead trout. Actions that increase juvenile biomass production at Chipps Island and/or increase natural adult production have a positive benefit.
Actions are types of Projects. Applicants propose Projects. Actions can include:
- Create new side channels and modify existing side channels to create and/or improve rearing habitats for the juvenile life stages of anadromous salmonids in the Central Valley rivers and tributaries;
- Place woody material, boulders, and other structures as appropriate, to provide habitat for salmonids;
- Create/enhance incrementally inundating floodplain habitat;
- Provide spawning habitat/coarse (spawning sized) substrate;
- Provide passage to and from disconnected habitats;
- Improve facilities by reducing their impact on fish survival and growth rates, such as inclusion of fish screens on diversions, modifications to allow for broader range of operation, increased frequency of operation, or to reduce the incidence of predation at a facility.
- Other actions that show a clear indication of improving growth & survival of Fall Run, Spring Run, or Winter Run Chinook salmon, and Steelhead trout.
- Conduct pre-and post-project site surveys, per the CVPIA SIT Tier 1 Monitoring guidance, and monitoring to document the effectiveness of projects at improving salmonid habitat; and
- Coordinate activities with a local watershed restoration group or an interagency restoration group consisting of agencies and local stakeholders.
Funding Information
Up to $40 million in Federal funds could be available in fiscal year (FY) 2023, with roughly $40 million more available in FY2024. No single application estimated to cost more than $10 million in Federal funds will be funded in any fiscal year. Funds are limited to eligible applicants.
Eligibility Criteria
- As specified in CVPIA Section 3407(e), an eligible applicant is the State of California or an agency or subdivision thereof , an Indian tribe, or a non-profit entity concerned with restoration, protection, or enhancement of fish, wildlife, habitat, or environmental values. The Secretary is authorized to provide funding\ to such an entity on such terms and conditions as is deemed necessary to assist in implementing the identified actions.
- County governments
- Special district governments
- City or township governments
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- State governments.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.