Projects eligible for a grant include:

1. Native Planting - Add native plants or seeds to existing landscape or to enhance a natural landscape
2. Habitat Restoration - Restore developed space back into native habitat
3. Lake Shoreline Restoration - Restore a shoreline with native plants or other bioengineering techniques
4. Waterbody Buffer Strip - Add a strip of native vegetation to help protect a waterbody such as a a lake, pond, or creek
5. Lawn Alternative - Convert a standard resource-intense lawn into a meadow lawn or bee lawn
6. Stormwater Best Management Practice (BMP) - Build a rain garden, tree trench, vegetated swale, or other feature that properly manages stormwater
7. Rain Barrel (homeowners only) - Add a rain barrel to capture roof runoff

Each type of project has requirements in order to qualify. Learn more about project requirements.

All projects must occur within the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District. Check to see if your property is located in the District.

Applicants must be the property owner or authorized representative. Eligible applicant categories include:

• Individual homeowners
• Non-profits (including home, townhome and lake associations)
• Schools
• Businesses
• Local government ​​​

The maximum award depends upon the applicant category and type of project. The grant review committee evaluates applications for their level of benefit to water resources. The award percentage for eligible projects may range from 25% to 75%.

Learn more about awards for each type of project.

Overview of maximum grant awards

Yearly Maximum per applicant

An individual or organization may apply for more than one Stewardship Grant per year. However, in addition to a project type maximum, there is a yearly maximum that an individual or organization may be awarded in a calendar year, regardless of the number of projects or project categories they apply for.

• A homeowner will not be awarded (or reimbursed) more than $5,000 in cost share funds per calendar year.
• A non-profit will not be awarded (or reimbursed) more than $20,000 in cost share funds per calendar year.
• A municipality, school, or business will not be awarded (or reimbursed) more than $50,000 in cost share funds per calendar year.

YES for some applicant types and projects types. You MUST include the in-kind estimate as part of your project cost estimate when you apply for a grant!

If you plan on installing the project yourself and you qualify for in-kind labor as a project cost, include your in-kind labor (estimated number of hours) in your estimated project cost when you submit an application. If you hire a professional but still do some of the project installation yourself, you can also include in-kind labor in your cost estimate.

We willl credit $15/hour for your in-kind labor (also known as sweat equity) to install the project. To take advantage of this, you must plan ahead and include an estimate of the number of hours you (and/or your household members) would need to install the project as part of your cost estimate in your application.

Requirements for getting in-kind labor credit:

• Eligible project types includes a habitat restoration, shoreline restoraiton, waterbody buffer, alternative lawn, and stormwater BMP. The native planting grant and rain barrel grant are not eligible for in-kind labor.
• In-kind labor credit is only for manual labor of installing a project by you or someone from your household or non-profit organization.
• Time used for shopping (in person or online) does not count as in-kind labor.
• When we review your application, we will determine if the estimated hours of labor is reasonable.
• Your in-kind labor credit is toward your share of out-of-pocket cost. If your credit is larger than this cost, we will not reimburse you for the difference.
• In-kind labor does not apply for staff of municipalities, schools, or businesses.

Take a look at the example below to see how including a reasonable estimate of in-kind labor can reduce your final out-of-pocket cost.

Every cost share (grant) agreement comes with a percent cost share with a not-to-exceed amount. This not-to-exceed amount is the maximum that a grantee will be reimbursed, regardless of the project's final cost.

A grantee can choose to pay the extra themselves or talk to the grant coordinator about how project costs may be reduced and still achieve project goals (this may not always be possible). We strongly encourage applicants to have a solid cost estimate in their application to reduce the risk of their project going over budget.

Work that goes above and beyond permit requirements or the cost difference of a BMP upgrade is eligible for grant funds. You can also receive grant funds for ancillary work, performed under the same project, that is not subject to district rules.

Shoreline restoration projects are an exception to the above. Grant funds may be used for bioengineered compoments (native plants, bio-log, etc.) of a shoreline restoration even if installing the components requires a permit.

Learn more about District Permits.

Projects that involve establishing native vegetation (habitat restoration, natural shoreline restoration, waterbody buffer) may be awarded three years of professional maintenance as part of the grant agreement. These funds are reimbursed once per year following the end of the maintenance season (typically end of the calendar year). 

To receive reimbursement, a grantee must submit a receipt and a description of work completed to the grant program coordinator. The description of work should be provided by the professional hired to do the work; they may place this information on the invoice, on a separate note, or by email.

Residential projects must be maintained by the grantee for 5 years following installation of the project. If a grantee sells their home before the end of the 5-year maintenance period, the cost share (grant) agreement does not transfer to the new homeowner. If you're thinking about applying for a Stewardship Grant and are also thinking about selling your home within a few years, reach out to the grant coordinator before you apply for a grant. Depending on the type of project, it may not be in the watershed district's best interest to offer cost share funds for a project if the maintenance requirement is voided because of a property sale.

Buckthorn removal is not covered in the grant program. However, you may use grant funds to purchase native plants or native seeds to enhance a wooded area that is undergoing or has already undergone buckthorn removal.

The Habitat Restoration grant is intended to restore developed or highly degraded sites back to natural habitat. Examples of developed sites include lawn/turfgrass, hard surfaces such as pavement/asphalt (patios, driveways, parking lots, etc.), or other site that is impervious, has low-permeability, or produces signficant stormwater runoff. Some highly degraded natural areas (with or without buckthorn) with conditions such as severe erosion may qualify as habitat restoration.

1. Read the program policies.
2. Fill out/submit the request a site visit form.
3. We will notify you by email about a site visit day/time within 7 business days. [IMPORTANT: Sometimes this email gets caught in spam/junk folders. Check these folders in your email account or add the grant coordinator to your email contacts.]
4. Design your project. You can design the project yourself based on recommendations from the technician, or you hire a private company/contractor to design the project. If you work with a private company (or design it yourself), we encourage you to submit the plan to technician for preliminary review. Make sure you are meeting requirements for your project type.

1. Before you submit the application, make sure you will meet the requirements for your type of project.
2. If you plan build/install the project yourself, estimate the number of hours you will need. You may be able to count in-kind labor toward your share of project cost.
3. Gather all of the necessary information needed BEFORE submitting an application. The more detailed information you provide, the less likely we'll have to go back-and-forth to ask for more information.
4. Information/materials you will need to provide for all projects:

• Photos: Provide two or more photos of project area as it looks now (before project installation).
• Cost estimate: If you plan to do the project yourself, you'll need to submit an itemized cost estimate. If you plan to hire a company/contractor to do part or all of the project work, please provide a detailed quote or bid from that company. Download this Grant Project Estimator (this is an Excel file you can open in Microsoft Excel or open in Google Sheets through your free Google/Gmail account) to help you estimate costs.

3. Once you have gathered all information and materials, fill out and submit the online grant application form. Be prepared to complete this step all at once as your form responses may not be saved on your local device.  Tip: Use a word processing program (e.g. Word) to put together your application responses in advance, then copy and paste these into the form.  

If you've reached the maximum file upload in the application form, you can email additional files to the grant program coordinator.

1. We will send you a grant agreement. Once this is signed, you can get started!
2. Keep track of your expenses including all receipts.
3. Issues come up. If you think you need to make a change to your plan, contact us for approval
4. Take lots of photos! Before, during, and after. You’ll need photos to submit in your project report.
5. You’ve got ONE YEAR (12 months) to complete your project once grant has been approved.

1. Submit a project report to the grant coordinator. Your report must include:
   • Total project cost
   • Copies of receipts that show vendor information, date of purchase, and item name/cost (invoices must be marked as "paid in full" or have proof of payment to be considered a receipt). If your receipt includes items not used for the project (e.g. candy bar), please draw a line through these on the receipt or communicate these items to the grant coordinator.
   • List of in-kind contributions (e.g. personal labor hours) but only if an in-kind contribution credit was part of your application/grant agreement
   • Photographs of completed project
   • Short written description about project (how did it go, what did you learn, how do you plan to maintain the project site, etc.)
2. Request a project inspection by emailing or calling the grant coordinator. If you submit your project report and haven't scheduled the project inspection, we will reach out to you. *Timing: you may schedule the inspection as soon as the project is nearing completion.
3. Once your project has passed the inspection, the grant coordinator will submit a payment request to the District administrator for approval. Once approved, the reimbursement will have to be approved at the monthly board meeting. After the board meeting, payment will be in the form of a check mailed to your address (see timing info below).

When will I receive my grant reimbursement payment? That depends on when you submit your project report. If you submit all required information (including receipts) and there's enough time to perform a close-out site visit by the 15th of the month, then your reimbursement is likely to be mailed to you during the first full week of the following month.  If your report and close-out site visit occur after the 15th of the month, then your reimbursement would likely be pushed back to the next District finance cycle (month after next).

1. Take care of your project. Depending on the type of project/location, you are required to to maintain your project for 5 years or 10 years (see program guidelines for full details).
2.  Complete an online project report each year to let us know how things are going. Please do this annually for 5 to 10 years (depending on what's stated in your grant agreement).
3. At the end of year two, the CCSWCD technician will stop out for a progress visit.
4. Stay in contact! The watershed district often offers continuing education on topics such as maintenance plus other opportunities to learn and get involved.

Before submitting a grant application, you must first request a site visit with a District representative. Site visits are scheduled on weekdays during business hours and subject to staff availability. The site visit allows evaluation and discussion with the property owner about the potential project idea.

After completion of the site visit , you may submit a grant application. The application is first reviewed by the grant program coordinator to determine if the application contains sufficient information. If the application is complete, it will be forwarded to the grant review committee, which meets about once a month to evaluate and make decisions on applications. Decisions may include a request for more information, adjustments to project design, denial of a grant award, or offer of a grant award.

Typical grant award offers range from 25% to 75% of project cost. Projects with a greater water quality benefit tend to score higher than those with a smaller water quality benefit. If a grant award is offered, the applicant must review and sign the grant agreement. Non-profits and businesses will also have to sign and file a maintenance declaration with their county recorder office. Once approved by the District Administrator (in some cases the Board of Managers must also approve), the project may begin.

The grantee pays for all project costs up front. Once the project is complete or near complete, the grantee will need to schedule a project inspection. The grantee must also submit a project report including receipts and photos. After inspection and report submisstion, the grant coordinator will submit paperwork for the grant reimbursement. The actual grant payment (in the form of a check) will mailed to the grantee following the next available Board of Managers meeting.