Inside this Issue:
Important Upcoming Dates
Grant Agreement and SWIFT Information
Grantee Evaluations
Grants Administration Manual Updates and Streamlining
Clean Water Legacy Partners RFP Now Open
Amendments for Grants Expiring 12/31/25
Tip of the Quarter
Best Management Practice Data Updated on the MnGEO Commons
Board Awards Grants for FY26 Water Quality and Storage Program
Important Upcoming Dates
July 25: FY26 Water Quality and Storage work plan submittal deadline
Aug. 5: Clean Water Legacy Partners Round 2 RFP closes
Aug. 7: Grants Streamlining Webinar
Sept. 9: Grants Streamlining Webinar
Oct. 21-23: BWSR Academy
Dec. 15: Amendments deadline for grants expiring 12/31/2025
Dec. 31: FY26 Clean Water Legacy Partners work plan submittal deadline
Grant Agreement and SWIFT Information
Who will be receiving my grant agreement?
The singular designated Day-to-Day Contact (D2DC) for your organization in eLINK will receive the grant agreement. Learn more by visiting the eLINK Guidance page on Accessing Your Grant Agreement or Amendment.
How do I update the Day-to-Day Contact for my organization?
If you need to update the D2DC, or aren't sure who your D2DC is, send an email to elinksupport@state.mn.us. Please provide the name of your organization, the name of the person to be removed as the D2DC, and the name of the new D2DC. Please make sure to notify BWSR when the D2DC — or any staff with an eLINK account — leave the organization so that we can ensure permissions are up to date and that critical grant communications reach your organization.
How do I verify my organization's current address in eLINK?
To update your address in eLINK, log in to eLINK and go to Contacts > Organizations. Find your organization and click on the adjacent Edit (pencil) icon. Update any address details as needed.
How will my organization receive our grant agreements?
The grant agreement will be routed to the D2DC for signature via an email from DocuSign. Watch for an email from "Kari Keating via DocuSign." You may assign your grant agreement to another individual (e.g. a board member) for signature as needed, but BWSR is not able to route the document to multiple individuals simultaneously.
Grant agreements must be signed via DocuSign. We will no longer accept them in a .pdf format.
If you receive the grant agreement from DocuSign, but are not the person who needs to sign it, please follow these steps:
- Open the document
- Find and click the button “Other Actions”
- Select the option “Assign to Someone Else”
- When the window pops up, add the name and email address of the person who will be signing the grant agreement
- Hit send, and an email will be sent to that person prompting them for signature
For signing issues, please visit DocuSign Support.
How do I verify my organization's current address in SWIFT?
To update your address in SWIFT:
- Log in to the Supplier Portal by going to http://mn.gov/supplier and go to the Sign In tile. Log in with your User ID (not an email address) and Password.
*If you need help logging in, please reach out to the EFT Helpline at 651-201-8106 or efthelpline.mmb@state.mn.us.
- Once logged in, navigate to “Manage Profile” > “Update Account”. Then click the “Addresses” tab and EDIT (pencil icon) the address that you wish to change. Please provide a brief reason in the Comments field (i.e. change of address, moved, etc.). Then, go to the “Submit” tab to submit this request for approval. You will be prompted to confirm your Federal Tax ID (enter with no dashes).
- Please find additional instruction at the following link to make an address change: Update Supplier Profile and Information (mn.gov).
- If you get prompted with an error to answer the Company Profile questions upon submitting, you will need to answer the questions under the Company Profile tab. When answering, please don’t type anything into the field. Leave the field completely blank/empty. Instead, click on the “select” or magnifying glass icon to choose your response. Once all questions have been answered, proceed to the submit page to submit this request.
Grantees can also contact the EFT helpline at 651-201-8106 (M-F, 9-3) or efthelpline.mmb@state.mn.us. We will need your Federal Tax ID (EIN or SSN) to locate your SWIFT Supplier account. Additional resources can be found here: SWIFT Vendor Resources
Grantee Evaluations
BWSR will be implementing grantee evaluations in compliance with Office of Grants Management (OGM) Policy 08-13, effective April 1, 2024, which requires agencies to evaluate and consider a grant applicant’s past performance before awarding subsequent grants to them. Under this policy, all state agencies must evaluate grantee timeliness, quality, and overall performance under a grant award.
These evaluations look at the grantee’s compliance with the terms of the grant agreement, fulfillment of expected grant outcomes, and any unaddressed concerns or issues such as cases of fraud, waste, or abuse.
Grant Managers/Board Conservationists will complete these evaluations as part of BWSR’s grant closeout process. Upon completion, and as required by OGM policy, BWSR will upload evaluation results, per grant, to a publicly accessible OGM website portal for grants over $25,000 issued on or after April 1, 2024.
Grants Administration Manual Updates and Streamlining
As of July 1, 2025, BWSR’s Grants Administration Manual (GAM) reflects formatting changes and several significant content updates to certain chapters. These updates align to internal work BWSR has been doing this past year, in partnership with Minnesota Management and Budget; Management Analysis and Development, to streamline our delivery and structure of grant program requirements.
A pre-recorded training on these updates is available with a summary of GAM updates and additional resources by visiting the Grants Streamlining webpage
The following trainings are available to any grantee staff that work with BWSR grants. Each option covers the same training content. Details for how to access these trainings can be found below and at the link above:
- Pre-recorded training
- Live webinar training: Thurs. August 7, 2025, 9:30am – 11:00am Register here
- Live webinar training: Tues. September 9, 2025, 11:00am – 12:30pm Register here
- In-person training: BWSR Academy, schedule TBA, October 21 - 23, 2025
These updates are effective July 1, 2025. We recognize these are significant changes to our granting operations so we want to be clear about what is going where and what is new this year. Please attend a training and visit the Grants Streamlining webpage to learn more. Reach out to your Grant Manger/Board Conservationist with questions or BWSR Grants Coordinator, james.adkinson@state.mn.us
Clean Water Legacy Partners RFP Now Open
The Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is now accepting grant applications for the Clean Water Legacy Partners Program, which seeks to protect, enhance and restore water quality throughout the state. Tribal Governments and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are eligible to apply for this opportunity.
“These grants will support water quality protection and restoration work in even more Minnesota communities,” said BWSR Executive Director John Jaschke. “The program’s flexibility also helps the state of Minnesota support partners outside of BWSR’s typical clientele.”
A total of $1.06 million from the Clean Water Fund is available: $272,000 is available for NGOs and $794,000 for Tribes. Grant requests must be between $50,000 and $250,000; a non-state match of at least 10%, provided via cash or in-kind services, is required.
The grants can be used for a wide range of conservation activities, including urban stormwater practices, agricultural best management practices, shoreline stabilization projects, well sealing and public engagement efforts. Examples of previously funded projects include clean water workshops and trainings, rain gardens, streambank and shoreline protection, and prescribed grazing.
The application period opened May 5, 2025, and closes August 5, 2025. For more information on how to apply, see the program’s Request for Proposals on BWSR’s website.
Amendments for Grants Expiring 12/31/25
Are you on track to complete projects and close out grants that will expire at the end of this year? Summer is a good time to assess progress on any grants expiring at the end of 2025, and begin the conversation within your organization and with your Board Conservationist/Grant Manager about whether an amendment — including an extension — may be needed.
The Grant Agreement Amendments and Work Plan Revisions chapter of the BWSR Grants Administration Manual establishes the procedures for requesting an amendment, which should begin 3-6 months before the grant agreement expiration date.
Tip of the Quarter
Q: If a grantee has an hourly rate included in a workplan that is approved by the Board Conservationist, is the hourly rate subject to review by a Grants Compliance Specialist?
A: Yes, a workplan is a budgeted amount. Rates and hours included in workplans are for budgeting purposes only. BCs are approving the budgeted amounts for each activity category along with the general types of projects planned in alignment with the approved grant application. GCSs review actual costs associated with the grant.
Best Management Practice Data Updated on the MnGEO Commons
BWSR updates the eLINK Best Management Practice (BMP) geospatial data on the MnGEO Commons on a daily basis. To access the data, go to this link: eLINK BMP data . This data layer provides the locations of best management practices (BMPs) reported to the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) via the eLINK grant reporting system from 2003 to present. Data is updated daily and can be viewed on a dynamic map viewer eLINK BMP Locations.
This dataset includes all mapped BMPs associated with completed and closed grants. Practices connected with open grants considered “in progress” are included here only if an installed date has also been reported. Please be advised, any practice(s) associated with open grants are subject to change until all grants have final reports submitted, approved and grants are closed. The attribute HAS_OPEN_GRANTS_YN can be used to determine if a practice may be subject to change in the future.
The eLINK data represents BWSR grants funded through BWSR via the State General Fund, Clean Water Fund, and Bonding funds. Practices funded through the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Clean Water Partnership, 319 programs and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) well sealing grants are also included. This data set does not include BWSR Reinvest in Minnesota (RIM) easements, which are collected in a database outside of eLINK. BWSR RIM easement data is provided through a separate dataset on the MnGEO Commons.
As of June 23, 2025, there are 59,053 records of BMPs in the BWSR eLINK database. 51,788 records are mapped in the geographic information system (GIS) database and are available to the public. 48,919 of these records are connected to closed grants. 2,869 records are connected to open grants and have an “Installed Date” reported. These mapped records are up from 49,073 records in 2024.
Board Awards Grants for FY26 Water Quality and Storage Program
BWSR is awarding approximately $3.1 million in Water Quality and Storage Program grants to six local governments for work that improves water quality and helps make landscapes more resilient to severe weather events in a changing climate.
Grant recipients include:
- Area II Minnesota River Basin Projects
- Blue Earth Soil & Water Conservation District
- Faribault County
- Lyon County Soil & Water Conservation District (two awards)
- Rice Creek Watershed District
- Yellow Medicine County
More information about BWSR’s water storage program can be found here. Learn more about the state’s climate work by visiting climate.state.mn.us.