Northern Water: Application period opens for Cooperative Water Efficient Landscape Grants

BERTHOUD – Northern Water will begin accepting applications on Oct. 1 for its next round of Collaborative Water Efficient Landscape Grants. Applications will be accepted through Nov. 20. Northern Water offers these grants to partner with local entities throughout Northeastern Colorado to bring more-sustainable landscapes to the region while also providing signs at these sites to help educate the public.

This is the third year of the grant program. Approximately $260,000 has been distributed since 2018, with funding going to 23 projects that consist of irrigation-system upgrades, incorporation of Colorado climate-friendly plants into landscapes, and turf-to-native-grass conversions.

The program is open to local government entities, businesses and homeowners associations located within Northern Water’s boundaries. Single-family homes do not qualify.

The maximum grant amount that will be awarded per project is $20,000, with a dollar-for-dollar match required from the applicant. The value of in-kind labor can potentially be factored into that match, but Northern Water will make that determination on a case-by-case basis. A limited number of grants will be awarded.

Potential applicants are required to take part in a consultation with Northern Water prior to submitting an application. Anyone wanting to schedule a pre-application consultation can do so by contacting Chad Kuhnel at 970-292-2566 or at ckuhnel@northernwater.org.

Applicants will be notified by Jan. 20, 2021, whether their project has been selected.
Additional details and updates about the grant program are available at
www.northernwater.org/grants.

About Northern Water
Northern Water is a public agency created in 1937 to contract with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to build the Colorado-Big Thompson Project, which collects water on the West Slope and delivers it to the East Slope through a 13-mile tunnel that runs underneath Rocky Mountain National Park. Northern Water’s boundaries encompass portions of eight counties, 640,000 irrigated acres and a population of about 960,000 people. For more information, visit www.northernwater.org.