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Community Development Agency recommending the Board adopt and authorize the Chair to sign Resolution 030-2016 in support of El Dorado Irrigation District’s grant funding application to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for the Caples Creek Watershed Ecological Restoration Project.
FUNDING: N/A
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DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATION
Community Development Agency (CDA) recommending the Board adopt Resolution 030-2016 in support of El Dorado Irrigation District’s grant funding application to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy for the Caples Creek Watershed Ecological Restoration Project.
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The El Dorado Irrigation District (EID) has requested that the Board consider adopting a Resolution (Attachment A) in support of its collaborative efforts with the Eldorado National Forest (ENF) to secure a Proposition 1 implementation grant from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (SNC) for the Caples Creek Watershed Ecological Restoration Project (Project) (see Attachments B and C). Proposition 1 funds would provide a matching funding source to ENF federal funds, which help prioritize completion of this Project to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildlife and restore overall watershed health in the Caples Creek Watershed. The Caples Creek watershed extends from Silver Fork Road south of Kyburz to the community of Kirkwood and also provides a significant portion of EID’s Project 184 water supplies.
Recent catastrophic wildfires during the period of 2013 through 2015 (Rim, King, Valley, Butte) have demonstrated the risk to public health and safety, economics, and natural resources including water supplies. EID and its watershed partner ENF initiated efforts to proactively address conditions in the Caples Creek watershed in an effort to avoid unfortunate circumstances that occurred during these fires. In 2012, the SNC joined the partnership through funding a planning grant, and efforts under that grant are nearly complete. EID and ENF are now pursuing an implementatio...
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