OAR 695-035-0050: Eligible Small Grant Projects

(1) The Small Grant Program will fund only those projects that: (a) Demonstrate in the Small Grant Project application a clear watershed benefit to aquatic species, wildlife, or watershed health. (b) Are consistent with the local Small Grant Team's priority watershed concerns, as identified in their program grant agreements with OWEB. (c) Adhere to OWEB administrative rules, OAR 695-005-0010–695-005-0060 and 695-050-0010–695-050-0050. (d) Implement a project to restore, enhance, or protect native fish or wildlife habitat, watershed or ecosystem functions, or water quality. (e) Are implemented in a manner that follows professionally accepted restoration approaches resulting in ecological or watershed benefits. (f) Use and clearly identify in the small grant application technical guidance from at least one of the approved sources in OAR 695-035-0030(2), and cite in the application the practice code(s), or the page number and paragraph, for the technical guidance source listed. (g) Where applicable, have been approved for technical sufficiency by the appropriate state agency, or by the appropriate tribal government for projects on Tribal Trust Lands. (2) Small Grant Projects to be completed in phases on the same property are eligible for Small Grant Project funding, provided only one phase is submitted for funding consideration per OWEB fiscal year, and provided all phases occur at different locations on the property. In general, OWEB encourages multi-phased project applications to be submitted through other OWEB grant programs. (3) Teams must select from the following list when identifying priority watershed concerns for their Small Grant Area: (a) Instream Process and Function; (b) Fish Passage; (c) Urban Impact Reduction; (d) Riparian Process and Function; (e) Wetland Process and Function; (f) Upland Process and Function; (g) Water Quantity and Quality/Irrigation Efficiency; (h) Road Impact Reduction. (4) The following project types are eligible for funding. Teams are encouraged to be strategic in identifying eligible project types in an effort to better support salmon recovery objectives and Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plans. Teams may petition OWEB to allow project types not appearing on the list, as described in OAR 695-035-0020(9)(c). (a) Instream Process and Function . (A) Improve Instream Habitat: place large wood, boulders, or salmon carcasses. (B) Manage Erosion: bioengineer stream banks, slope stream banks, or develop water gaps, streambank barbs. (C) Eradicate or Control Exotic Aquatic Species. (b) Fish Passage. (A) Remove Irrigation or Push-Up Dams: install alternatives (e.g., infiltration galleries, point-of-diversion transfers) or convert from gravity diversion to pumps. (B) Remove and/or Replace Culverts (as a condition of funding, such projects require ODFW or ODF technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form; and for culverts under state roads, a 50 percent ODOT match). (C) Remove or Replace Stream Crossings (as a condition of funding, such projects require ODFW or ODF technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form). (c) Urban Impact Reduction. (A) Install Stormwater Runoff Treatments (e.g., create bioswales, pervious surfaces, native plant buffers, green roofs). (B) Revegetate Stormwater Runoff Treatments (e.g., create bioswales, pervious surfaces, native plant buffers, green roofs) where vegetation has exceeded its design life. (C) Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project. (d) Riparian Process and Function. (A) Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs through managed grazing (e.g., fencing and developing off-channel watering) and plantings. (B) Manage Vegetation: plant or seed native riparian species, propagate native riparian plants, or control weeds in conjunction with a restoration project. (C) Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project. (D) Restore flood plain reconnection. (e) Wetland Process and Function . (A) Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs: fence out livestock or develop alternative watering sites. (B) Manage Vegetation: control weeds (in conjunction with a restoration project), or plant native wetland species. (C) Restore Wetlands: excavate or remove fill, or eliminate drainage structures. (D) Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project. (f) Upland Process and Function . (A) Manage Erosion on Agricultural Lands: terrace land; employ laser leveling; create windbreaks; install water and sediment control basins (WASCBs); develop filter strips/grassed waterways; manage mud (e.g., gravel high-use areas, develop paddocks); seed bare areas (OWEB may require a grazing management plan, if appropriate, prior to release of funds. For post-fire areas, seed only where natural regeneration is unlikely — e.g., on slopes of 30 percent or more — or where it can be demonstrated that seeding would retard or prevent the spread of noxious weeds); or reduce tillage. (B) Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs to Streams through the management of grazing, vegetation cover, or animal waste. (C) Manage Vegetation: prescribed burning, except when conducted as part of a commercial harvest; non-commercial thinning; control/remove juniper (except late-seral/old growth); plant or seed (native upland species or native beneficial mixes preferred); or control weeds (in conjunction with a restoration project). Projects for prescribed burning to reduce fuel loads require ODF technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form. (D) Manage Wildlife: install water guzzlers. (E) Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project. (g) Water Quantity and Quality/Irrigation Efficiency . (A) Recharge Groundwater, such as through infiltration galleries, infiltration basins, roof water harvesting, or similar practices. (B) Implement Irrigation Practices (e.g., pipe existing ditch, install the permanent components of drip or sprinkler systems, install automated soil moisture sensors where water and electrical savings can be documented, or recover or eliminate tail water). Such projects must either not adversely impact the current level of groundwater in a Groundwater Management Area, or for projects involving surface water must measurably reduce the diversion of water at the point of diversion. As a condition of funding, irrigation efficiency projects require local watermaster technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form. Landowner agreements with irrigation efficiency projects require affirmation that the landowner and/or irrigation district agrees that water conserved with the project shall remain instream. For projects involving improvement of irrigation practices for the benefit of water quality, the application shall describe how sediment, nutrients, bacteria, or waste is entering a waterbody along with sediment and nutrient load calculations. (h) Private Road Impact Reduction . (A) Decommission Roads. (B) Improve Surface Drainage: surface road drainage improvements, gravel surfacing, stream crossings.