To apply funds strategically and with maximum benefit, a Priority Project Pipeline has been developed to identify the priority and readiness of projects to implement.  This was done by working with local partners and following the SW BIP goals and strategies/actions to guide prioritization.  The newly updated project pipeline identifies 245 multi-benefit, landscape-scale, and water conservation and infrastructure projects, an increase of nearly 100 projects from the SW BIP. The Community Navigator continues to update and maintain this list. Using this tool, the Community navigator can effectively identify projects that qualify for funding sources and bundle them together with common themes.

Throughout this process, multi-benefit, infrastructure, watershed-scale, and water conservation projects will be identified.  These are projects that can support the SW BIP goals on a watershed-scale across multiple sub-basins and bring together collaboration between multiple local partners and stakeholders.  With an expanded grant program, the basin will have the funding and capacity to implement larger watershed-scale, multi-benefit, and water conservation projects in the near term.

To achieve the goals of supporting watershed-scale, multi-benefit, and water conservation projects, a dedicated position called a “Community Navigator” is recommended to coordinate and facilitate collaboration between project partners to leverage larger federal investment. A community navigator was retained between SWCD and Harris Water Engineering in the Spring of 2024.

Community navigation can connect local project proponents to “bundle” or elevate regional-scale projects that are more likely to garner federal funding support.  Shared goals, strong relationships, and connected partners are essential to successfully accessing grant funding.  In addition, this role will help community organizations navigate funding opportunities, align projects with available federal funding resources, support the development of proposals for federal funding, coordinate with federal agencies (e.g., USFS, BLM) on funding opportunities, understand what’s needed to prepare to apply for funding, and coordinate stakeholders during project implementation.

To design this role to provide the best service to the Southwest Basin, background research will be done to identify gaps in coordination that currently exist within the Southwest Basin (e.g., Pine River, Florida River, etc.).  It will also be important to understand how this position can complement other community navigation that is currently underway in the Southwest Basin (e.g., through TNC with Tribal partners and MCD).  This position will ideally be designed for longevity, with consistent funding sources identified to support it in the future. TRCP will provide ongoing support to SWCD in identifying and pursuing long-term capacity resources.  Other communities that have created similar positions will be helpful resources for this information. TRCP will also work with the navigator to troubleshoot any challenges in navigating/accessing federal resources and help leverage NGO support for SWCD proposals. The community navigator position is in alignment with the Colorado Water Plan grant funding criteria which could potentially be a funding source for the position.

Expanding SWCD’s existing program will require additional capacity to facilitate basin and region-wide coordination between community partners and address geographic inequities, as well as provide increased capacity to administer and manage a greater number of contracts.  SWCD, with the help of regional partners, needs to determine the specifics of the additional services to successfully expand this grant program.

Additional administrative, management, technical resources and community coordination support will be needed to develop this Program. For example, the Upper Gunnison River Water Conservancy District (UGRWCD) found great success in hiring an agricultural engineer to provide technical assistance up-front to support project design for their grantees, prior to application. This helps the UGRWCD ensure their grant program criteria for multi-benefit projects are met and helps the provide the project proponent with a needed service that they would otherwise have to raise funds for, potentially delaying the project.  

While multiple additional staff could be required to fill the needed capacity, there are also opportunities for collaboration with partners to help fulfill capacity needs (e.g., cost-share or partnerships with NGOs, State, and Federal Agencies).