Cooperative Funding Initiative Fiscal Year

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The approved Senate Bill 444 — Water Protection and Sustainability Program — has been integrated into our initiative.

FY2014 Project Evaluations by Region

• Tampa Bay Region
• Heartland Region
• Northern Region
• Southern Region

Documents

• Board Policy 130-4
• Procedure #13-4
• Guidelines pursuant to the Rural Economic Development Initiative

Detailed Guidelines
coming soon

This program allows local governments to share costs for projects that assist in creating sustainable water resources, provide flood protection and enhance conservation efforts.

Building partnerships for water resources

A key program for building partnerships is the District’s Cooperative Funding Initiative (CFI) program. The CFI covers up to 50 percent of the cost of projects that help create sustainable water resources, enhance conservation efforts, restore natural systems and provide flood protection. All CFI funding decisions are made by volunteer Governing Board members who are well informed on the specific resources and challenges within their areas.

Six degrees of preparation…

Successful partners follow these steps to fund local projects:

1. Identify a project. To ensure that money is spent wisely, the CFI is most likely to fund projects that address issues and meet goals identified in plans developed in association with local governments in each basin. Each project should address one or more of the District’s areas of responsibility: water supply, flood protection, water quality and natural systems.
2. Match funds. The CFI was created to leverage funds between the Governing Board and cooperators. At least 50 percent must be a hard-dollar match from other sources.
3. Ask for help. Government affairs program managers are available year-round in four locations across the District.
4. Know your competition. Learn about projects that have been approved in your region — and why. Many of the most successful projects use state-of-the-art technology or best management practices to protect, conserve, restore or enhance the area’s water resources and ecology. Cost-benefit calculations also are important, as is the potential impact of the project across the region.
5. Check your project. View the forms our staff members use to evaluate proposals.
6. Watch the clock. The CFI schedule requires that all requests for funding be submitted by 5 p.m. on the first Friday in October. Projects submitted after that date will not be considered.

Applications for projects that are in more than one water management district (WMD) should be submitted simultaneously to each WMD. Eligibility and ranking of such projects will be handled in the same manner as projects wholly within this District.