Mayor Newsom Announces SFPUC ‘Watershed Stewardship’ Grants to Fund SF Neighborhood Greening Projects
August 26, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Gavin Newsom today announced the immediate availability of $100,000 in Watershed Stewardship Grants from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC) for neighborhood-based stormwater management projects. Eligible community projects will capture and reuse rainwater on-site with linked rain barrels or cisterns, build public green spaces, or replace paved areas with permeable ones, allowing rainwater to recharge the City’s groundwater aquifers.
Utilizing these stormwater management techniques reduces the amount of stormwater collected and treated in the City’s sewer system, reduces combined sewer overflows into the Bay and ocean, protects and conserves the City’s aging sewer system, saves money on costs to process stormwater through the system, and provides an important new local water source for irrigation.
“Instead of collecting and treating stormwater through the City’s combined sewer system and releasing it into the Bay or open ocean, stormwater can be a local water resource to green our neighborhoods,” said Mayor Newsom.
The grants are funded by the SFPUC and administered through the City’s Community Challenge Grants Program (CCGP). Depending on the size of the project, a neighborhood or community match is required for a grant. Last spring, funded projects included a plan to green 20 separate paved areas in the Sunset District with native plants and trees, as well as the addition of a large rainwater cistern to McKinley Elementary School’s upcoming water education yardscape.
The next cycle of Watershed Stewardship Grants opens for applications on Wednesday, August 26th. Applications will be accepted through Wednesday, September 30th. Interested neighborhood and community groups can apply online at the CCGP website at sfgov.org/site/ccg (fill out the Watershed Stewardship grant application).
WHAT: The SFPUC’s Watershed Stewardship Grants
WHEN: Applications accepted from August 26 – September 30
WHERE: Apply online at sfgov.org/site/ccg.
More information on SF’s Combined Sewer System:
San Francisco is the only coastal city in California with a combined sewer system that collects and treats both wastewater and stormwater in the same network of pipes. During wet weather, San Francisco’s combined sewer system treats more then 475 million gallons of sewage and stormwater each day.
For more information on San Francisco’s combined sewer system and stormwater management projects, visit sfsewers.org or the SF Sewers blog at sfsewers.blogspot.com.
