updated 2/11/2025
Q: Who can I send additional questions to?
A: Submit additional questions to rita.weaver@state.mn.us
Q: Who is eligible to apply?
A: Eligible applicants include:
Cities
Counties
Joint Powers Board
MASWCD Technical Service Area
Soil Water Conservation Districts
Tribal Governments
Watershed Districts
Watershed Management Organizations
Local Government Unit (LGUs) applicants must have a State approved and locally adopted local water management plan, comprehensive watershed management plan, watershed district plan, or soil and water conservation district (SWCD) comprehensive plan.
Definitions
- Area of Interest – Area defined by the applicant which has flooding issues, water quality issues, or climate vulnerabilities. Applicant is responsible to define the extent of their concerns at the area of interest to help reviewers understand how the proposed project or practices will improve conditions.
- Critical 100-year (or 10-year) Event – this is the event that will result in the highest peak flow rate and/or volume at the area of interest. The 24-hour rainfall is often considered, but the critical event may have a longer time period or may be a snowmelt event.
Q: Can funds be used to purchase property to protect it from development?
A: Funds can be used to purchase property or to put an easement on property, but the applicant must still demonstrate how the funds would be reducing rates or volumes in the runoff hydrograph assuming existing conditions. The reduction in rates or volumes cannot consider a future development to pre-development change in land use or storage capacity.
Q: Can you clarify the difference between “Improvements or retrofits of existing storage areas to increase storage capacity or retention time” (eligible practice) and “Maintenance or repair of existing structures/storage projects” (ineligible practice)?
A: The eligible activity would create or provide additional storage beyond what the original structure provided. When the reduction of flow rates and volumes are considered during scoring, reviewers will only count additional storage against the structure in its fixed condition and the project would only get “credit” for that additional storage added. The entire cost of repair and improvement can be submitted and will be considered for funding.
Q: How should a change in the hydrograph be demonstrated?
A: Applicants should provide flow hydrographs modeled with a standard hydrologic modeling program under existing and proposed conditions. Hydrographs must be shown at the area of interest and at the HUC12 outlet downstream of the area of interest. Stage hydrographs are also acceptable as long as the applicant can describe how the change in elevation (as opposed to the change in flow) will result in reduced flooding or improved water quality at the area of interest.
Q: What methods can be used to quantify water quality benefits?
A: Water quality benefits can be quantified using standard methods used for other grant applications, such as the estimator tool or other modeling software.
Q: How can examples of flood reduction benefits be provided?
A: To help reviewers understand the flood reduction benefits, applicants should explain the flood concerns at the area of interest (what is flooding, how much, and how often), and how the proposed project is expected to improve those conditions.
Q: What is required as part of the feasibility study?
A: Feasibility studies are intended to supplement the information in the application and show that a project is ready for final design. The feasibility study may contain information such as the project location/map, hydrographs showing the reduction in flow rate and/or volumes, how the project will improve conditions in the watershed, and/or alternatives considered. The feasibility study is not a replacement for fully responding to the questions in eLINK, and the entire scoring team may not review the feasibility study in depth. However, responses in eLINK may reference the feasibility study if the question cannot be fully answered in eLINK.
Q: Why are there requirements for project longevity and maintenance plans?
A: Due to the expected scale of the proposed projects, it is important that the funds used by this program result in projects or practices that will be in place long enough to recognize the improvements in the system, therefore projects should be in place for a minimum of 25-years. Also, storage projects will decrease in performance if they are not maintained properly. Therefore, the applicant must assure that proper maintenance will be completed on the project and/or practices.
Q: What if the project does not result in a reduction of flow rates or volumes further downstream?
A: It is not required that proposed projects and/or practices show a reduction in flow rates further downstream than their area of interest, but it is important that applicants consider the positive or potential negative effects of their project on their watershed as a whole. Applications that demonstrate benefits further downstream than their area of interest will score higher than projects that show more limited improvements. Applications should discuss how their project fits into a watershed wide approach.
Q: How do I attach the required feasibility study?
A: Within the Attachments section of the application in eLINK, follow the prompt to upload your feasibility study.
Q: My feasibility study does not include a hydrograph image. How do I attach the required hydrograph image?
A: Within the Attachments section of the application in eLINK, you will be asked if you need to add a separate hydrograph image (i.e. the image was not included in the feasibility study). If your response is Yes, follow the prompt to upload your hydrograph image.
Q: Can multiple photos be submitted for an application?
A: You will be allowed to add one optional application image, which will be embedded into the application document for reviewers to see. Additionally, if your feasibility study attachment does not include a hydrograph image, then follow the prompt in the Attachments tab to upload your hydrograph image. Any other information you would like to submit should be included at the end of your feasibility study and uploaded as one doc, docx or pdf file.
Q: What is considered a “system” when applying for a modeling and conceptual design grant funds?
A: A system is the watershed upstream of the area of interest. This does not have to be a specific HUC watershed size, but since these funds are intended to put distributed storage on the landscape the applicant should have a large enough watershed to show they can consider more than one storage location to meet the goals of the project.
Q: If a waiver is needed by the BWSR engineer for my project, such as the number of hydrographs submitted or the type of model that will be used, can this be pre-approved before applying for grant funds?
A: Yes. Please reach out to Rita Weaver, rita.weaver@state.mn.us, to make sure the project will be eligible before the application period closes.
Q: What activities should I add to my Application Budget?
A: While building your Application Budget, please break down your budget into the relevant Activity Categories. Activity Categories that may apply to this program include:
- Administration/Coordination
- Agricultural Practices
- Nonstructural Management Practices
- Planning and Assessment
- Project Development
- Streambank or Shoreline Protection
- Technical/Engineering Assistance
- Urban Stormwater Management Practices
- Wetland Restoration/Creation
Note that not all practices under the above categories will necessarily be eligible. Check with your Board Conservationist if you have questions about eligibility.
eLINK
Q: How will I know who is going to be the grantee when there is collaboration between two organizations?
A: Whoever starts the funding request in eLINK is the Grantee and this is who receives the Grant Agreement via DocuSign. If a Fiscal Agent is designated, that will be the organization which grant payments are made to.
Q: Who is your organization’s Fiscal Agent?
A: The fiscal agent is the organization to whom BWSR would issue payment, if successfully funded. For example, this may be a SWCD that accepts funding and manages finances on behalf of a TSA.
Q: What are the character limits for application questions?
A: Most of the questions within the application have a 2,000-character limit (approximately 300 words), including spaces. If you choose to develop your responses outside of eLINK, e.g. in Word, be aware that programs may count the characters differently due to differences in how the characters are encoded.
Q: The character limit for answering most application questions in eLINK is 2000 characters. Does that include spaces?
A: Yes. A space is considered a character in eLINK.
Q: Can I make changes to a submitted application during the RFP open period?
A: Yes. You will need to click Withdraw Request, make your updates and then “Submit” the funding request. The status change triggers generating the report, which is added to the Attachments tab and seen by reviewers. Please note that failure to change the status back to “Submitted” will not capture any changes for review team, and applications not in “Submitted” status at the time the RFP closes will not be considered for funding.
Q: Can I access my earlier grant applications even if they were not funded?
A: Yes, you can access them by logging into eLINK and navigating to "Request Funds" in the left menu, then clicking on "Funding Requests". You will need to check the “Include closed request” box to search for your previous application.
Q: Can consultants submit grant applications in eLINK on behalf of LGUs?
A: Yes, there are two ways to accomplish this. One way is for the LGU to start an application and add a consultant to the “team membership”. The consultant must have an active eLINK user account to be added to the team membership. The second way is for a consultant to request an eLINK user account from the eLINK homepage and indicate the LGU(s) for which they are applying. The LGUs should be aware of this request.
eLINK user accounts should not be shared by multiple individuals; a separate user account should be requested by each individual needing access. It is not necessary to create multiple eLINK user accounts for one individual if access is needed for multiple organizations. To request access to additional LGUs contact elinksupport@state.mn.us.
Q: I have entered proposed indicators within the Application Activities. Why do I also need to provide a narrative summary of “proposed Measurable Outcomes”?
A: This is a required field for all applications, and allows for a high-level comparison between what was proposed during the funding request and the final outcomes reported at grant closeout.
Q: When attempting to submit my application, I get a message stating, “For each activity, you must either check the box verifying that there are no pollution reduction estimates associated with the Activity or enter proposed indicators.” What do I need to do?
A: Within the Application Budget tab, you will either need to ensure that the “Check here if this activity does not include proposed pollution reduction estimates” is checked within the Edit Application Activity” screen (pencil icon), or enter proposed indicators within the “Edit Indicators” screen (orange diamond icon). If your project will include on the ground practices resulting in pollution reductions, indicators must be entered.
Q: When is an additional Attachment allowed?
A: The only attachments that can be added are:
- Optional application image,
- Required feasibility study, and
- A hydrography image, if not included in the feasibility study documents
- Additional items can be attached by including them as one document (doc, docx or pdf file) to the feasibility study upload.