Adopted October 18, 2016 ANNUAL GRANT PROGRAM OPERATING GUIDELINES AND CRITERIA SECTION 1.0: BACKGROUND The Colorado River Water Conservation District ( District ) operates an annual grant program, subject to the District s Annual Grant Program Operating Guidelines and Criteria ( Guidelines ). The grant program provides financial assistance for completed and proposed water resource projects through a competitive application and review process. Funding available to the grant program is subject to the District s annual budget and appropriation process. The intent of the grant program is to assist successful applicants as they implement water resource projects and related activities that promote the protection, conservation, use, and development of Colorado River water resources and the efficient use of Colorado's Colorado River Compact entitlement. Specifically, the grant program promotes the beneficial use of water for agricultural, municipal and industrial purposes; watershed management activities; water quality enhancement projects; and water use efficiency enhancement projects. The District will consider requests for competitive grants once each year during the two month period from December 1 through the last business day of the following January for water resource projects within District boundaries that are consistent with the District's statutory purposes. Additional information about the District s statutory mission and grant program objectives can be found at www.coloradoriverdistrict.org. The District has promulgated these Guidelines to assist grant applicants. These Guidelines will also be utilized by the District in evaluating and prioritizing applications. Through these Standard Operating Guidelines and Criteria, the District, at its discretion, may target projects that address specific objectives, needs, areas and/or activities. SECTION 2.0: ELIGIBILITY Projects eligible for funding must be located within the physical boundaries of the District and should meet one or more of the following grant program goals 1 : 1. Development of a new water supply; 1 Priority will be given to those projects that utilize and/or preserve pre-colorado River Compact water rights (those rights with an appropriation date of 1929 or earlier).
Page 2 of 8 2. Improvement of an existing water supply system; 3. Measures to improve instream water quality; 4. Water use efficiency improvements; 5. Sedimentation reduction; and/or 6. Implementation of watershed and riparian management actions. Grant requests will be considered for: 1. Projects that have been completed within one year prior to the application due date. 2. Shovel ready projects. Shovel-ready projects are those that are anticipated to begin construction within one year of grant contract execution. Grant requests will not be considered for planning studies, demonstration projects and pilot projects that are not, or do not directly lead to, shovel ready projects. The District may, in its discretion, fund projects, investigations, studies and research that are consistent with the District s statutory purposes, on a case by case basis separate from this Grant Policy Program. Projects in which the District or the District s Enterprise has a majority ownership interest are not eligible for grant funding. Grant recipients may not apply for, or receive, financial assistance that exceeds a total of $150,000 from the District in any given five (5) year period, except under extraordinary circumstances approved by the Colorado River Water Conservation District Board of Directors. Members of the Board of Directors of the District and Staff of the District are subject to Article XI of the By-Laws of the Colorado River Water Conservation District regarding ethical conduct in their duties. Any member of the District Board of Directors or District Staff with a personal interest in a Project will disclose any such interest or other conflict of interest and recuse themselves from participating in any vote or decision making process related to that Project. SECTION 3.0: APPLICATION All grant applications for a given year must be submitted in writing by January 31 of that year (or by end of the last business day of January if January 31 falls on a nonbusiness day). The District Board will generally award grants at its April meeting each year. Applications must contain, at a minimum, the following elements: 1. A summary with a clear description of the project, including the technical and financial aspects of the project; 2. A detailed project schedule with milestones;
Page 3 of 8 3. List of project participants; and 4. A clear and comprehensive budget. The technical information provided should fully detail the project and should reference all relevant studies, documents, planning reports, and construction documents, which should be submitted, as appropriate. All materials submitted as part of the application shall be considered public documents and as such, are available for public inspection and distribution and will become the property of the Colorado River District. SECTION 4.0: EVALUATION A set of ranking and selection criteria are used to select water resource project(s) for grant funding. Projects will be evaluated based upon their compliance with the District s grant program goals, the specific project merits, and the quality of the application. An application may be denied if minimum criteria are not met, even if total grant requests are less than the available annual funding amount. Grant applications will be reviewed and ranked solely at the District's discretion. Acceptance for review shall not constitute an obligation on the part of the District to provide any funding. Requests will be evaluated and ranked based on competition for available funding. In review of grant applications, the District may evaluate or assess the technical adequacy of the proposal in order to prioritize the application. However, such an evaluation or assessment shall not constitute a warranty or an engineering opinion about the project upon which the applicant or any third party may rely. Grant requests will be categorized as Small Projects and Large Projects and further sub-categorized as Completed Projects and Incomplete Projects for potential separate evaluation by the District. The authorized funds available to each category will be set at the District s discretion based on applications received and the District s specific objectives and needs, and may be subject to change. Grant Program Large Projects Small Projects Completed Projects Incomplete Projects Completed Projects Incomplete Projects
Page 4 of 8 Small Projects are those with total project costs of $60,000 or less. Large Projects are those projects with total project costs greater than $60,000. Project costs may include planning, engineering, permitting and estimated, or actual, construction cost. Legal, recording or other non-construction costs are not typically considered part of project costs. SECTION 4.1: FUNDING DETERMINATION The maximum grant funding amount will be determined in the following manner: a. Small Projects: Funding will be limited to 50% of the first $10,000 of total project cost. An additional 20% of the subsequent project cost above $10,000 will be funded, up to a maximum grant amount of $15,000. b. Large Projects: Funding will be limited to 25% of the project s total estimated costs, up to a maximum grant amount of $150,000. Total Project Cost Maximum Grant Award Allowed $0 - $10,000 $5,000 $10,001 - $60,000 $15,000 Greater than $60,000 25% of total project cost or $150,000, whichever is less
Page 5 of 8 SECTION 4.2: EVALUATION CRITERIA The merits of eligible projects will be assessed and scored in the evaluation process using the following criteria: Appropriateness: Is the project consistent with River District mission and does it meet the goals of grant program (see eligibility section above)? Project Description: Is the project clearly defined and described? Budget: Is the description and documentation of project costs clear, accurate and comprehensive? Funding: Is there a high likelihood of full funding from all proposed sources? Has other funding been acquired and/or assured? Are funding sources secure? Milestones & Timelines: Is the project timeline described and documented in a clear and well-organized fashion? Is there a clear path for completion within a year, or within the proposed timeframe, as appropriate? Technical Adequacy: Is there a high objective probability of technical success? Is there a high likelihood that the project will perform as designed? Project Effectiveness: Is there a high likelihood that project objectives will be met? Will the project be effective and efficient? Applicant s Capability: Does the grant applicant have the ability to perform this type of project? Cost Effectiveness: Does the cost-benefit or total cost divided by total benefit represent a good investment (e.g., low cost per acre-foot)? Participation: Are there multiple participants and/or number of beneficiaries? Priority is given to projects that involve or benefit a number of individuals, entities and/or River District constituents.
Page 6 of 8 Other: Are there intangible benefits to the project? This could include: project uniqueness (i.e. Does the project employ new methods which may serve as an example or potential solution for similar problems? Does the project provide a water education benefit? Does the project increase public safety? etc.) This evaluation criterion can have a negative value if the project has adverse impacts or undesirable elements. All proposals will be reviewed and ranked by River District staff by assigning values to the abovementioned criteria. Ranked results and project summaries will be presented to the Executive Committee of the Board during March of each year as staff recommendations. The Executive Committee will make final recommendations to the River District Board for formal action and potential funding at the Second Quarterly Board Meeting in April of each year. SECTION 5.0: CONTRACTING REQUIREMENTS AND PROCEDURES Grants will be implemented through a legally binding contract. This contract will include appropriate special conditions, including but not limited to: 1) limitations on the use of grant money; 2) applicant s indemnification of the District; 3) applicant s insurance requirements; and 4) applicant s repayment requirements for breach of contract. The grant applicant and all other interest holders, such as facility owners, shall accept all responsibility and liability associated with the proposed project, including, but not limited to, property interests, water rights, environmental and permit compliance, on-site and off-site project impacts, project construction, project operations, project maintenance and other obligations. Grantees shall have sixty (60) days after the District=s mailing of the final grant contract or any amendment to a grant contract to execute the final grant contract or amendment and deliver the executed original to the District=s offices. If execution and delivery of a grant contract is not accomplished in that time, the Grantee shall be deemed to have rejected the District=s offer to contract and that offer shall terminate. If a Grantee fails to execute and deliver an amendment within that time, the River District may terminate the original grant contract and demand full repayment if grant funds already have been distributed. The District may modify grant contracts on a case-by-case basis to accommodate special circumstances including completed projects, commenced projects, and projects sponsored by public entities subject to the Colorado Governmental Immunity Act. SECTION 5.1: INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS The River District requires Grantee to obtain and carry insurance for incomplete projects until the project is complete. Such insurances required must be written for limits of liability as follows:
Page 7 of 8 I. General Liability: i. Bodily Injury and Property Damage: $1,000,000 each occurrence/$1,000,000 aggregate ii. Personal Injury: $1,000,000 each occurrence/$1,000,000 aggregate II. Automobile Liability: i. Bodily Injury and Property Damage: $1,000,000 any one accident or loss ii. Personal Injury: $1,000,000 each occurrence/$1,000,000 aggregate III. Workers Compensation and Employer s Liability: i. Workers Compensation: Statutory ii. Employer s Liability: $100,000 each accident $100,000 disease - each employee $500,000 disease - policy limit The insurance requirements may be modified with the approval of the District legal department. Once a contract has been signed, the estimated commencement and completion dates may be extended upon written request by the Grantee and approval by the District. All other substantive changes to the grant contract must be approved by the Board. SECTION 5.2: DISBURSEMENTS Financial assistance will be disbursed in the following manner: For all projects, the District will forward twenty-five percent (25%) of each grant amount to the grant recipient ( Grantee ) once a grant contract has been signed and all other required documentation has been received and approved. For Completed Projects, the remaining grant amount will be forwarded once the District has received a completed "Request for Final Payment" form from the Grantee with all required documentation. The final grant amount may be less than the total grant amount originally approved by the Board if the documented final cost of the Project is less than the original cost estimate. The total grant amount shall be equal to the amount allowed by the formula described in Section 4.1 of the Guidelines based on the documented final cost of the Project or the amount originally approved by the District Board, whichever is less. Incomplete projects are eligible for progress payments throughout the project construction based upon evidence of paid invoices provided by the Grantee. Fifty percent (50%) of the grant amount will be paid through
Page 8 of 8 progress payments in two (2) twenty-five percent (25%) increments. The remaining twenty-five percent (25%) will be paid upon a determination that the project is substantially complete and the District has received a completed "Request for Final Payment" form with all required documentation from the Grantee. The final grant amount may be less than the grant amount originally approved by the District Board if the documented final cost of the Project is less than the original cost estimate. Disbursements of financial assistance must be completed within three (3) years of the contract date unless there is a high likelihood that the project will be completed within an agreed upon reasonable time frame and an extension is authorized by District staff and/or board action.