The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced the selection of three water conservation, resource protection, cleanup, remediation and watershed enhancement projects to receive funding in fiscal year 2023-2024.
The combined awards, totaling just over $2 million, were made under CDFW’s Cannabis Restoration Grant Program (CRGP) through the Environmental Restoration and Protection Account.
Under the Qualified Cultivator Funding Opportunity, CDFW awarded the following project:
Water Quality with Swamin Select ($209,073 to Ethos Environmental). This project will reduce erosion and improve water clarity by shortening and armoring a culvert, installing an emergency spillway on a pond, creating armored dips and other road improvements and installing water monitoring equipment. This project will also assist a small emerging nonprofit expand capacity to assist other Mendocino County licensed cultivators.
Under the Cleanup, Remediation and Watershed Enhancement Funding Opportunity, CDFW awarded the following projects:
TerrAdapt: Dynamic Monitoring, Assessment and Decision Support for Conserving California's Wildlife ($1,058,501 to RESOLVE). This three-year project will use remote sensing and cloud computing technology to monitor and assess California’s environmental changes annually and as far back as 1984. This project will result in identification and prioritization areas for restoration and conservation work for CDFW.
Innovations in Reclamation Monitoring: Ecosystem Response to Grow Site Reclamation ($862,500 to the Integral Ecology Research Center (IERC)). This project will remediate and restore 10 illicit cannabis cultivation sites on public land that include upland, riparian and aquatic habitat by removing hazardous materials and waste, and dismantling water diversion infrastructure. This project aims to restore natural water flow and provide standardized protocols for monitoring environmental change.