About the Fund
In partnership with the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board (CVRWQCB), Rose Foundation for Communities and the Environment has developed a grants program to support disadvantaged communities working on water quality issues throughout the Central Valley. The grants will be funded through Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP) payments that may be used to satisfy part of administrative civil liabilities imposed by the Water Board. Since the program helps direct future SEP payments to community-based water quality projects, the purpose of the application process is to develop an annual Project List. Organizations with projects that meet both the disadvantaged community and water quality criteria will then be placed on the Annual Project List. Click here to view the Fact Sheet: Funding Opportunities for Regional Board (SEPs).
The overall goals are of the Program are:
>> to support water quality related community-based projects that meet important objectives that comply with the State Water Board’s Policy on SEPs; and
>> to ensure that any project funded by a SEP both benefits and involves underserved, vulnerable, or otherwise disadvantaged communities in its design and implementation.
Since this Grants Program helps direct future SEP payments to community-based water quality projects, the purpose of the application process is to develop a Project List. Organizations with projects that meet both the community and water quality criteria will then be placed on Project List. Projects which qualify for the Project List are then eligible for funding through a SEP. Due to the linkages between this Grants Program and enforcement efforts being conducted by the State of California, all grant applications should be considered publicly-available documents, and the full text of all applications recommended for the initial Project List shall be provided to CVRWQCB members and published on their website website.
Deadlines
The 2019 Project List is being rolled over to 2020. Therefore, there will be no application deadlines in 2020.
Please sign up here to receive notifications of future grant opportunities.
Eligibility and Priorities
To be eligible for a grant from the Central Valley Disadvantaged Community Water Quality Grants Program, the applicant and project must meet all of the following criteria. Submitting an application for consideration does not in any way guarantee any level of funding whatsoever. Click here to read more and review project examples.
A Note for Previous and Current Grantees:
- If your organization has previously received funding from this Fund and is: a) on track and meeting or exceeding all of its required interim milestones; and is, b) scheduled to be fully completed within the first half of 2019, then you are eligible to submit a new application for the 2019 Project List.
- If your organization received funding in 2018 for more than 50% of its total requested project budget, you have to sit one year out and are not eligible to apply for the 2019 Project List. This mandatory one year “sit-out” helps make space on the project list for other worthy community-based organizations.
- If your organization was on the 2018 Project List and: a) did not receive any funding; or b) received funding for 50% or less of its total project budget, it is eligible to roll over. “Roll-overs” will be provided with a streamlined update process. If you are uncertain regarding your roll-over status, please contact the Rose Foundation. If you are uncertain regarding your roll-over status, please contact the Laura Fernandez at (510) 658-0702 x304 or lfernandez@rosefdn.org
