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<br />Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form
<br />Form Revised May 2007
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<br />3. For Applications that include a request for funds from the Statewide Account, describe how the water
<br />activity meets the Evaluation Criteria. See Part 3 of eriteria and Guidelines.
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<br />Promote eollaboration & Cooperation
<br />The water activity addresses multiple needs or issues as outlined in SWSI Phase I and in the PRRP. This
<br />project includes several partners that provide match in the form of land, cash, and in-kind services. As stated above,
<br />DU works through a cooperative partnership of wildlife, open space and water interests and has been highly
<br />successful in the past. Almost all of our work centers on providing river augmentation through wetland recharge
<br />projects, which benefit many of the partners in our SPFAC. As SWSI recommended water needs to meet several
<br />growing demands, of which our projects meet several including agricultural, municipal, industrial, environmental,
<br />recreational, and public access to lands for recreation. Through this partnership DU has lead the way with match
<br />funds to secure North American Wetlands Conservation Act Grants (NA WCA). These grants represent the
<br />pinnacle of cooperation as they require significant match and diverse partnerships to secure. We have received two
<br />$I-million grants in the past to protect land and water through conservation easements, and restore wetlands, mostly
<br />recharge wetlands. Match requirements for NA WCA grants are $1 nonfederal to $1 federal, however higher match
<br />ratios make proposals much more competitive in the scoring process. Our partnership has raised nearly $10 million
<br />to secure the two NA WCA grants, which have now been completed. The partnership will apply for another
<br />NA WCA grant if the CWCB grants this application funding.
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<br />Millions of dollars have been spent to secure land and water for the purposes now identified for SWSI. In
<br />the past 10 years DU and its partners have conserved over 16,000 acres. Contributing partners have included
<br />numerous private landowners, CDOW, SPLRG, LSPWCD, NCWCD, DU, USFWS, COL, Centennial Land Trust
<br />(CL T), RMBO, City of Brush, City of Fort Morgan, Julesburg Irrigation District, Union Mutual Ditch Company,
<br />Box Elder Ditch Company, Lower Latham Reservoir & Irrigation Co., and many more. This represents about 18
<br />partners in total with all in agreement that we have diverse needs and goals that can be satisfied by cooperating
<br />without compromising our core values. Only through this cooperation are we able to raise the match required to
<br />access NA WCA grants. This project will include two private landowners ($75,800), SPWRAP ($240,000), SPLRG
<br />($57,026), LSPWCD ($]04,203), DU ($94,937), and the City of Brush.
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<br />The PRRP requires substantial water to be delivered to the Central Platte in Nebraska. Colorado is
<br />participating by dedicating 10,000 acft annually to the first phase of this 13 year program. Water users will be
<br />covered for future depletions and negate the need to conduct individual NEPA studies as members ofthe SPWRAP.
<br />This program is already conducting interbasin compacts by providing water coverage for members associated with
<br />the Metro, South Platte, and North Platte basins. Members from all three basins will benefit directly from this
<br />project as SPWRAP and the PRRP will be the main beneficiary of developed water. Although DU and SPWRAP
<br />are developing language to assure recharge credits will be available for the PRRP, we are confident this detail can
<br />be worked out. In fact, the Heybome tract could have all water credits diverted to the program.
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<br />Facilitating Water Activity Implementation
<br />Funding from this activity will allow the project to proceed and without it the project is in jeopardy. As
<br />part of the partnership, many partners and stakeholders have stepped forward to provide matching funds. For the
<br />most part match has been provided as incentive to pursue the SB-179 grant funds. The partnership believes that this
<br />project is a perfect fit for the HB-II77 process. Without the SB-179 funds the partnership will be unable to raise
<br />the match required to successfully apply additional grants including federal NA WCA grants, which would bring
<br />$ I M for projects along the South Platte. This grant would also add to the partnership and bring additional State
<br />level expertise to our focus area.
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