Arkansas - Colorado State Parks Zebra Mussel Response_Application

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Water Supply Reserve Account - Grant Application Form Fonn Revised May 2007 3. For Applications that include a request for funds from the Statewide Account, describe how the water activity meets the Evaluation Criteria. See Part 3 of Criteria and Guidelines. This project meets the Evaluation Criteria in the follow ways: Promoting Collaboration and Cooperation This project will provide a template to other water management entities in Colorado for how to respond to zebra mussels. The methods used by State Parks will be transparent and made widely available to others. This project will set the standard in Colorado for sampling techniques for zebra mussels, rapidly responding to any findings, using the best management practices for minimizing the risk of spread to other bodies of water. The zebra mussel issue is absolutely an inter-basin issue, and will address consumptive or non-consumptive needs of multiple interests by minimizing the spread of zebra mussels which could jeopardize the a consistent and stable availability of water. Facilitating Water Activity Implementation 1. Urgent, short window of Opportunity Funding from the statewide account is critical and urgent for State Parks to respond to this issue in the most timely way. Time is of the essence because a full system for response must be put in place or the 'window of opportunity' to contain this species will pass. A very small number of adults or larvae of zebra mussel can establish a new population in a new water body, and failure to act quickly has led to the spread of zebra mussels to multiple water bodies and multiple basins very quickly in other states. 2. Expertise and Ability to Implement State Parks can put this operation into place very quickly within a few weeks of receiving funding we will be able have staff and equipment in place for this project. Our staff is ready to implement this project; many of our key have already received training from professionals from other states in trainings conducted in Pueblo in February and in Grand Junction and Brighton in early March. Our staffhas been communicating with staff in other states and plans to visit operations in Califomia over the next few weeks to address any remaining questions about the implementation of procedures. 3. Matching Funds and Needs State parks has an operating shortfall this year and responding fully to this issue will require immediate staffing and immediate purchase of capital equipment which this Statewide Grant could provide. State Parks other funding sources for this project will take a longer time to put in place. Matching funds will certainly become available for this project, but just a few months after this funding is available. State Park already has some planning funding in hand ($95,000), but is seeking over $4 million dollars in funding to provide a 4: 1 match on this project. 6