CWA approves integrated management plan application $2.5 million requested for Santa Margarita land acquisition

The San Diego County Water Authority approved a resolution for an Integrated Regional Water Management Plan grant application during the CWA’s June 23 board meeting.

The application, which seeks Proposition 50 funding from the California Department of Water Resources, includes a $2.5 million request for land acquisition along the Santa Margarita Corridor.

“They will award us money based upon the quality of our plan and how all the projects work together,” explained CWA principal water resources specialist Vickie Driver. “It’s not just the bottom line rating evaluation for any single given project but how it fits in.”

The elements of the Integrated Regional Water Management Plan include land acquisition, land restoration (most prominently removal of invasive species), facilitation, infrastructure, local supply and water quality. “They’re pretty much evenly divided among various projects,” Driver said. “It’s quite an interesting bag of projects.”

The list contains 24 projects for which the CWA is seeking nearly $52 million in grant money. The application process is actually a two-step process; the CWA will submit the Step 1 application by July 14, and after a DWR review process the CWA will be invited to submit a Step 2 application which will include a plan. The state’s final funding decision is expected in early 2006.

Proposition 50 was passed by the state’s voters in November 2002 and includes several chapters under which funding is provided for water-related projects. Chapter 8 allots $380 million to promote integrated water management to protect communities from drought, improve water quality and reduce dependence on imported water.

The CWA and DWR are unsure whether the state will fund specific projects or give a certain allocation to an applicant for that recipient to prioritize projects. “The state is learning this process, too,” Driver noted. “We just have to be patient with one another.”

Driver added that there would likely be multiple cycles for Chapter 8 grants and that funding for some projects could be sought under other Proposition 50 chapters.

The $2.5 million grant for the Santa Margarita Corridor acquisition would complement a $9 million match to provide $11.5 million of funding for the project.