Cascade pacific rcandd will receive $349,978.00 in columbia river basin restoration funding assistance program - lower columbia river estuary competitive funding awarded under EPA-R10-OW-crbrp-2022-01

The Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 awarded Cascade Pacific RC&D a $468,430 Project Grant under the Geographic Programs - Columbia River Basin Restoration (CRBR) Program (CFDA #66.962). The funding will support continuation and expansion of an existing stormwater retrofit program in the Upper Willamette Metro Area of Oregon through September 2024.

The program incentivizes voluntary stormwater retrofits on commercial, industrial, and institutional properties to reduce pollution and improve water quality. Key activities include refining governance structures with 13 partner organizations, installing green stormwater infrastructure on 6-8 local sites, engaging environmental justice partners for more inclusive design and equitable benefits distribution, and implementing impact monitoring. Subawards to Long Tom Watershed Council and McKenzie Watershed Association will support expanded partnership development, outreach, design, installation, training, and coordination in their service areas. Outcomes focus on establishing sustainable partnership and monitoring models to achieve long-term water quality impacts through this type of collaborative regional program.

Description

Cascade pacific rcandd will receive $349,978.00 in columbia river basin restoration funding assistance program - lower columbia river estuary competitive funding awarded under EPA-R10-OW-crbrp-2022-01. This project will continue the expansion of an existing stormwater retrofit program that fills a niche in the urban area by incentivizing stormwater retrofits which complement existing regulatory stormwater programs, working with businesses on a voluntary basis who do not have a regulatory requirement to install stormwater facilities or otherwise manage site-produced toxins that impact urban stormwater runoff. These retrofits reduce or eliminate pollution and runoff, improve water quality, and protect habitat while promoting citizen engagement and knowledge. The project will continue to refine and align program objectives to the newly expanded partnership base in the extended area of work, expand and align monitoring and evaluation processes, and engage the black, indigenous, people of color (bipoc) community with a focus on workforce expansion in green stormwater infrastructure through collaborative training. Work associated with the project will occur on existing industrial and commercial businesses, places of worship, parks, and school grounds within the upper willamette metro area including the cities of eugene and springfield. Activities:IT is anticipated that this project will result in four primary outputs. One, continue to refine governance structures and processes for communication, planning, and implementation that provide the operational foundations of uwwp and its 13 partner organizations. Two, installation of GSI retrofit projects and associated outreach activities with six to eight local businesses and community organizations. Three, integrate two to four key partners from the environmental justice community for more inclusive program design and more equitable distribution of project benefits measured by the number of opportunities identified, including green jobs. Four, implementation of a project impact and effectiveness monitoring platform. Expected outcomes of the project include: this project has engaged a wide array of stakeholders to build the foundations of a program that will have lasting, measurable impacts on water quality in the upper willamette. Due to the complexity of the project and the necessary initial investments in developing a sustainable partnership model based upon trust, collaboration, shared goals, and accountability, in addition to the ecological realities related to the lifecycle of green infrastructure installations, the exact environmental impacts will not be measurable in a two-year project time frame. Instead, this project will address the social limiting factors to environmental impact including coordination among relevant stakeholders and the alignment of resources and priorities for implementation and future monitoring. This project will benefit communities within the upper willamette metro area.subrecipient:with eleven years of experience developing this model, long TOM watershed council (ltwc) will be a sub-grantee and technical lead, implementing organization in this effort. The ltwc will facilitate the expanded urban waters and wildlife partnership model development process; lead outreach, design, permitting, installation of GSI; CO-develop an on-line GSI maintenance training; participate in environmental justice community engagement; and coordinate the monitoring program. The mckenzie watershed association sub-award will go towards tree equity and environmental justice community engagement, as well as strategic planning. The mckenzie watershed association will focus on outreach, technical support, and program coordination in their geographic area of service. Outcomes:IT is anticipated that this project will result in four primary outputs: 1) continue to refine governance structures and processes for communication, planning, and implementation that provide the