OWEB is partnering with ODA to gather feedback on capacity grants before starting rulemaking in the fall of this year. We will be hosting listening sessions, giving a presentation at Connect, talking to partners one-on-one, and gathering feedback through a survey.

We'd appreciate receiving your thoughts through the following anonymous survey. The survey asks a mix of multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Survey answers will help us finalize questions for the listening sessions and will also be combined with listening session feedback to help us develop draft rules during the rulemaking process.

Some of the questions ask about specific ideas that have come up related to capacity grants - for example, a competitive vs. non-competitive grantmaking process. We don't have our minds made up about these ideas - your feedback on these questions will be truly helpful in guiding future direction of the capacity grant program.

1.How do you use your current soil and water conservation district (including the SOW tasks) or watershed council capacity funding?

2.How familiar are you with Constitutional language/ORS 541.956 requirements that allow for lottery grant funds to only be used for the following eligible activities:
(1) Acquiring from willing owners interests in land or water that will protect or restore native fish or wildlife habitats. The interests may include, but need not be limited to, fee interests, conservation easements or leases.
(2) Projects to protect or restore native fish habitat or wildlife habitat.
(3) Projects to protect or restore natural watershed or ecosystem functions in order to improve water quality or stream flows.
(4) Resource assessment, planning, design and engineering, technical assistance, monitoring and outreach activities necessary for carrying out 1-3.

Very familiar

Familiar

Somewhat familiar

Not so familiar

Not at all familiar

3.What eligible activities described in the question above does your organization spend the most time on?

Acquiring from willing owners interests in land or water that will protect or restore native fish or wildlife habitats. The interests may include, but need not be limited to, fee interests, conservation easements or leases.

Projects to protect or restore native fish habitat or wildlife habitat.

Projects to protect or restore natural watershed or ecosystem functions in order to improve water quality or stream flows.

Resource assessment, planning, design and engineering, technical assistance, monitoring and outreach activities necessary for carrying out 1-3.

4.Please describe what an effective watershed council or soil and water conservation district looks like to you.

5.Do you believe additional accountability measures should be incorporated into future watershed council and soil and water conservation district capacity grants? If so, what accountability measures?

No accountability measures

Meeting minimum statutory requirements to be a council or district in good standing

Making measurable progress toward developing eligible restoration or acquisition projects

Other (please specify)

6.If future watershed council and soil and water conservation district capacity grants were competitive, and performance based, how would you prefer to see it structured? Select from the following examples:

I do not believe these grants should be competitive

Base funding for all organizations, with a competitive element for additional funding

Ranked tiers, where following technical review, applications are placed into tiers for funding

Other (please specify)

7.What else is important for OWEB and ODA to understand before we work with a rulemaking advisory committee to draft updated capacity grant rules?