Water District Awards $730K to Local Organizations

Written Claudia Cruz.

Six area organizations will share $731,273 in grant money from a voter-approved fund, the Santa Clara Valley Water District announced last .

Locally, Palo Alto-based Save The Bay has been awarded $75,000 for their tidal marsh project at Baylands Park and Acterra gets $80,000 for their work with enhance habitat at the San Francisquito Creek.

Nearby Los Altos' Adobe Creek Restoration at Redwood Grove will receive $90,000 and Los Altos Hills O'Keefe Preserve Purrisima Creeks Habitat Restoration project $98,425.

The grant program Clean, Safe Creeks and Natural Flood Protection Plan (Clean, Safe Creeks) helps prevent pollution, increase trail and open space, and enhance the environment.

"These three priorities were chosen because of outcomes identified in Clean, Safe Creeks and also because of the great interest demonstrated by stakeholders during the 2011 grant cycle," said district board chair Nai Hsueh.

Since 2000, the program has helped fund 92 projects totaling over $16.7 million with a combination of public and private funds.

According to the water district, grant applicants had to choose one of the three priorities as a category for proposal review and then a multi-disciplinary team of internal and external reviewed the applications. Based on these rankings, district staff presented funding recommendations.