From the Department of Water Resources:
The Department of Water Resources (DWR) has released a Discussion Draft Implementation Plan and Guidelines for the Delta Conveyance Project’s Community Benefits Program (CBP). The implementation plan provides more detail about how the CBP could be implemented for each of the four elements of the program, which include:
- Delta Community Fund
- Economic Development
- Integrated Benefits
- Community Benefits Agreements
The implementation plan suggests screening criteria to determine fund eligibility, methods to prioritize potential projects, procedures to distribute and audit funds, ways to develop and maintain economic development goals, and public input opportunities for identification of potential integrated benefits.
DWR welcomes your feedback on this document, which was developed as a starting point to initiate the process of determining how the Community Benefits Program should be implemented.
The Discussion Draft Implementation Plan and Guidelines and an accompanying feedback form can be found online at: https://water.ca.gov/Programs/State-Water-Project/Delta-Conveyance/Community-Benefits-Program OR at library locations throughout the Delta. The document will be available for review through March 1, 2025.
The community input received on the Discussion Draft Implementation Plan and Guidelines will be used to develop an updated version of the document.
About the Community Benefits Program:
Large infrastructure projects, such as the Delta Conveyance Project, inevitably create effects on the communities and the local environment in which they are built. Out of recognition that the water supply benefits of the Delta Conveyance Project extend across much of the state, but the impacts of construction and operation are concentrated locally in the Delta, the Delta Conveyance Project includes a commitment to a comprehensive Community Benefits Program.
DWR has set aside $200 million for the CBP to invest in Delta communities through a grant fund for local projects, in addition to business development set-asides for job training and local business utilization, and potential “leave-behinds” like broadband or other infrastructure. The goal is to develop ways to identify, fund and implement local projects in collaboration with the local community that can provide tangible, lasting and valuable economic and social benefits to the residents, businesses, and organizations affected by the Delta Conveyance Project.
For more information about the Community Benefits Program, visit the project website
OR contact: DeltaConveyanceCBP@water.ca.gov.
