Over the last year, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has been rolling out changes to the Surface Water grant program. The discussion to make these changes started back in 2015. The changes have been put into place to make things easier both for the individuals applying for the grants as well as for the grant specialists within the DNR.

One of the biggest changes is that all surface water grants will have one application deadline. This includes, but is not limited to, the  Lake and River Management Planning grants, Clean Boats Clean Waters grants, and Healthy Lakes grants. The deadline is now November 1st.

It should be noted, that while the deadlines have changed, that nothing else has changed for the Clean Boats Clean Waters grant application and award.

If you plan to apply for a WDNR surface water grant, you need to contact your lakes, rivers, or AIS biologist with the WDNR by September 2nd. You can find the full list of contacts here: https://dnr.wi.gov/Aid/documents/SurfaceWater/AISRiversLakesContacts.pdf

Another change to the program is the reimbursement schedule. Previously reimbursements could be applied for once a quarter or at the end of the grant, depending on grant type. The new changes to the grant program, will allow for partial reimbursement once a year or a one time final reimbursement.

Due to these changes in the reimbursement, the WDNR is allowing for more grant types to receive a 75% advance payment when the grant begins. Management grants may also request an additional 25% advance.

Previously, not all groups were eligible for all surface water grants. The new changes allow for any group found eligible under one grant category to be eligible for all other grants.

Finally, the new surface water grant program allows for more surface water management projects to occur without a comprehensive plan. The goal is to get more projects on the landscape that will protect our waterways. This is one of the reasons it is so important to reach out to your WDNR contact in advance of creating your grant application.

To read a more about these changes, head over here: https://dnr.wi.gov/Aid/nr193.html