The CABY region’s implementation proposal to the CA Department of Water Resources, for which The Sierra Fund is the lead applicant and fiscal sponsor, has been recommended for full funding. The proposal package includes a dozen projects in the CABY IRWM region including needed water infrastructure, innovative small hydroelectric projects, and mine lands and meadow restoration efforts.
In March of this year, The Sierra Fund stepped in to provide the capacity needed for organizations and agencies in the Cosumnes, American, Bear Yuba (CABY) Integrated Regional Water Management group (IRWM) to submit a funding ask for a dozen projects to the IRWM grant program at Department of Water Resources.
The proposal, which can be viewed in the CABY website library, includes the following projects:
- Camptonville Water System Improvement Project, led by the Camptonville Community Services District
- City of Placerville Waterline Replacement, led by City of Placerville
- Water Efficiency, Water Quality and Supply Reliability, jointly led by the Nevada Irrigation District and Placer County Water Agency
- Wolf Creek Watershed Restoration, Stormwater Source Control and Flood Management, led by nonprofit American Rivers
- CABY Mercury and Sediment Abatement Initiative, a conglomeration of seven distinct projects coordinated by The Sierra Fund, which includes:
- Relief Hill Hydraulic Mine Remediation, led by Tahoe National Forest
- Malakoff Diggins Feasibility Study, led by The Sierra Fund
- Omega Diggins and Scotchman Creek Hydraulic Mine Assessment, led by the South Yuba River Citizens League
- Spring and Shady Creek Mining Impacts Assessment, led by the Yuba Watershed Institute
- Combie Reservoir Mercury Treatment Facility, led by Nevada Irrigation District
- Mercury Contaminated Fish: Data Collection and Public Education, led by The Sierra Fund
- CABY Mercury Forum, coordinated by The Sierra Fund
- Meadow Restoration, Assessment and Prioritization in the American, Bear and Yuba Watersheds, led by the South Yuba River Citizens League which includes projects on seven meadows in the region
Not only was the region’s proposal recommended for full funding, but it demonstrated how The Sierra Fund can leverage effective partnerships and a small amount of cash for enormous gain for the region. Our proposal, which was created on a slim budget and a lot of close work with project leads, was the fourth highest ranked proposal in the state, even in competition with other IRWM regions that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on their proposals.
The proposal is one of twenty proposals recommended for funding. The Board of the Department of Water Resources will review funding recommendations and officially award funding in late 2013. Full information about this process is available on DWR’s website.
