Hi all! I hope you are all doing well and I am looking forward to seeing you at our next Council meeting on Thursday, July 19, 2018 at 9am! See below for more information.
I have three items. This is a long newsletter, so bear with me!
1) Ventura River Watershed Council meeting on Thursday, July 19th at 9am at the EP Foster Library. Address = 651 E. Main Street. Ventura, CA 93001.
This meeting will be formatted differently and more informal than our usual Council meetings. The meeting will focus on the Watersheds Coalition of Ventura County (WCVC)’s call for projects and program ideas as part of its process in amending its Integrated Regional Water Management (IRWM) Plan to comply with the 2016 Proposition 1 IRWM Plan Standards. This plan update will also allow folks within the region to apply for Proposition 1 IRWM Implementation Grant funding when it becomes available in early 2019. As part of the process, WCVC just issued details for a call for project and program ideas to be included in the Plan (See item 2 for more details!). To help Council participants prepare for project and program submissions, this meeting will go over the why and how of submitting project and program ideas for the IRWM plan project updates. The second portion of the meeting will focus on brainstorming ideas together. Lynn Rodriguez from WCVC will be there to answer any and all questions you might have.
Lynn and I hope to see many of you there, not only the folks who typically apply for Prop 1 funding, but anyone who has project and program ideas that would make the WCVC IRWM Plan update more comprehensive and effective.
2) WCVC IRWM Plan Amendment – 2018 Call for Projects and Programs – WCVC issued details for its 2018 call for projects and programs yesterday afternoon.
WCVC Call for Projects/Programs – Guidance – here
WCVC 2018 Project/Program Submission Forms – here
DEADLINE: Please submit your Project/Program submission forms to me Lynn Rodriguez no later than Monday, October 1, 2018.
From WCVC: Implementation of projects and programs are the means by which we achieve the goals of the Plan and enhance management of water resources in the region. The projects/programs submitted through this process do not need to be ready for implementation, and do not need to be eligible for, or comply with, the requirements of Prop. 1 IRWM Implementation Grant criteria. The resulting list of projects and concepts will be part of the IRWM Plan until it is subsequently updated. The projects/programs may qualify for funding from a variety of funding sources.
However, the 2018 IRWM Plan Amendment is a necessary step in order for WCVC to apply for the first round of Proposition 1 IRWM Implementation Grant funding when it becomes available in early 2019 – so if you have a project or program you’d like to submit in the first round, please submit a form now and indicate as such. We will be following up later this year to identify which of the projects submitted in this first call for projects are ready for inclusion in the first round funding solicitation. ** Projects or programs included in a grant application to the state must be included in an IRWM Plan; to get your project in the Plan, you need to submit a project submission form for each project you’d like considered**
In order for a project – or project concept- to be included in the Plan, a Project Submission Form must be submitted. Fill out as much of the form as you can.
If your project or program is still conceptual, please complete items A, C, D, E, H and J of the form if possible.
Please submit completed forms to Lynn Rodriguez. The watershed coordinators and Lynn will facilitate review of all project/program forms in each watershed as well as regional projects. Each watershed group will be asked to affirm inclusion of submitted projects in their respective watersheds into the IRWM Plan. These recommendations will be reviewed and approved by the WCVC Steering Committee, which will then be ratified by the General Membership.
Once DWR releases the final Proposal Solicitation Package (PSP), and if your project(s) or program (s) is selected by WCVC for inclusion in the suite of projects in the first round of Prop. 1 IRWM Implementation Grant funding, we will follow up with you to complete additional items on the Project Submission Form that will be required as part of the grant application.
Please contact Lynn and I if you have any questions! Again, our meeting on Thursday will be a great forum for brainstorming ideas and asking any process questions you might have!
3) Ventura County General Plan Update (VC2040). At our meeting in May, Susan Curtis, Manager of the General Plan Update, gave us an informative presentation on what the Ventura County General Plan Update is, why it is important, and how we can be involved. The General Plan Update and other long-range planning efforts will all have lasting impacts on land use in the watershed, so please get involved! You can find out more about the Ventura County General Plan Update and ways to engage at VC2040.org. The planning division offered to share examples of water related policies from other county general plans; these can be accessed on a Google Drive here. You can look to these examples for ideas and inspiration on the types of policies and programs you think Ventura County should adopt. On July 31, 2018, there is a joint Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors hearing scheduled and the public is invited. Additionally, more information on two other planning efforts, the VC Resilient Coastal Adaptation Project and the Ventura County Local Coastal Plan Environmentally Sensitive Habitat Areas, can be found on the County Planning Division’s website vcrma.org/divisions/planning. [A special thank you to Lara Meeker for contributing this information!]
Have a good day,
Po