WASHINGTON - The Bureau of Reclamation is seeking public comments on the draft directive and standard for WaterSMART Grants. This directive and standard outlines the internal process used by Reclamation to review applications for funding under the program each year, including the responsibilities of each Reclamation office.
The directive and standard was first issued as a temporary Reclamation Manual Release in August 2012 and is currently in effect. This draft does not contain any substantive revisions to that temporary release.
The directive and standard does not contain the criteria used to select projects for funding. Those criteria are included in each WaterSMART Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement. This directive and standard does establish a requirement that Reclamation will seek public comment prior to any major revisions to the selection criteria.
Since its establishment in 2010, WaterSMART has provided more than $161 million in competitively-awarded funding to non-federal partners, including tribes, water districts, municipalities, and universities through WaterSMART Grants and the Title XVI Program. Through WaterSMART and other conservation programs funded over the last three years, a total of more than 616,000 acre-feet of water per year is estimated to have been saved.
The draft directive and standard is available for review at: http://www.usbr.gov/recman/drafts/wtr12-01webdraft.pdf.
Comments or questions may be directed to Joshua German at jgerman@usbr.gov. Comments must be received by July 5, 2013.
Source: Bureau of Reclamation
