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OWEB staff recount history and role of capacity grants in local restoration
Summary
OWEB staff told the committee that capacity grants have run for more than 20 years and are critical to helping watershed councils and soil & water conservation districts leverage state, federal and private funds to deliver on-the-ground restoration for salmon and watersheds.
At the March 10 Committee meeting, Brian Walcott, OWEB’s water acquisitions and capacity grants coordinator, gave historical context for the capacity grants program and its relationship to the Oregon Plan for Salmon and Watersheds.
Walcott said OWEB and its predecessor programs have provided capacity grants since the 1990s and that these investments help local watershed councils and soil and water conservation districts plan projects, leverage other funding sources and employ local contractors. He referenced a programmatic review, the "Capacity Matters" report produced with faculty and students from Oregon State University and the University of Oregon with OWEB and ODA assistance, as evidence the grants help move projects from planning to on-the-ground work.
Walcott highlighted typical uses of capacity funding — planning, monitoring, project development and coordination with landowners — and said many grant applications for on-the-ground restoration work are built by councils and districts using this capacity funding. He noted that councils and districts were specifically identified in statute as Oregon Plan partners, and that the capacity grants provide a baseline of predictable funding subject to reporting requirements.
