Delta Conservancy Announces Availability of $42M in Grant Funding

Dec. 22, 2022
WEST SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy is announcing the availability of $42 million in new funding for projects that support Nature Based Solutions: Wetland Restoration (NBS: WR) and Climate Resilience, Community Access, and Natural Resource Protection (CAR).

The Amended Budget Act of 2022 provided the Conservancy with $36 million in NBS: WR funds to support the restoration, conservation, and climate resilience for wetlands in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

Example projects include, but are not limited to:

• Managed and tidal wetland restoration
• Crop conversion to rice cultivation
• Technical assistance to access the Voluntary Carbon Market
• Planning to prepare for and support eligible projects (e.g., scoping, design, environmental compliance, science)
• Land acquisition or easement

The Amended Budget Act of 2022 additionally provided the Conservancy with $6 million in CAR funds for multi-benefit projects that promote community access to parks, open space, nature or cultural amenities; support climate resiliency to drought, floods, or extreme climatic events; protect food and water security; protect and conserve natural resources; and support biodiversity.

Example projects include, but are not limited to:

• Community access (e.g., parks, open space, nature, cultural amenities, museums, historical or cultural
• sites, recreation and tourism, and environmental education)
• Climate resilience
• Natural resource protection

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Delta Conservancy Board Approves Millions for Projects

Nov. 16, 2022
WEST SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy Board today approved dozens of new projects, totaling up to $10.8 million, and paved the way for an additional $42 million for multi-benefit projects in the Delta.

The Board unanimously approved an award of up to $10.8 million for 64 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program (DDRPP) projects for water year 2023.

The 2023 Delta Drought Response Pilot Program was developed through a collaborative effort between the Department of Water Resources, the Office of the Delta Watermaster, The Nature Conservancy, and the Delta Conservancy, in coordination with Delta water users.

The goals of the 2023 program are to reduce drought stress in the Delta watershed by incentivizing agricultural water users to incorporate practices into their operations that:

• Conserve water on a net basis during the 2023 water year
• Protect Delta water quality by providing an added buffer against salinity intrusion
• Promote soil health
• Mitigate potential drought impacts on fish and migratory birds

Click here to read more about the program.

Additionally, the Board approved draft solicitation notices for Climate Resilience, Community Access, and Natural Resource Protection (CAR) and Nature Based Solutions: Wetland Restoration (NBS: WR) funding. The funding opportunities, $42 million in total, will be administered as non-competitive grant programs without proposal submission deadlines.

Grants funded through CAR funding should be multi-benefit projects that advance the state’s initiatives to build climate resilience, expand outdoor access for all, and advance California’s 30×30 goal to conserve and protect 30 percent of the state’s land and coastal waters by 2030. Grants funded through NBS: WR should support restoration, conservation, and climate resilience for wetlands in the Delta and Suisun Marsh.

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