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-Editorial
The Imperial Irrigation District Board of Directors reviewed the organizations that have been recommended to receive Local Entity Fund money at their Nov. 3rd meeting.
These local organizations will be given funds to support community projects and help each organization to retain jobs and also help those in need.
The IID Board of Directors, acting as the Local Entity, functions to authorize grant funding to help offset socioeconomic impacts resulting from land fallowing implemented within the IID water service territory in furtherance of the Quantification Settlement Agreement.
The IID/San Diego County Water Authority water transfer agreements authorized $50 million in mitigation funding, with $30 million provided by the San Diego Water Authority and $20 million by IID. Since 2008, nearly $32 million of these monies have been disbursed to farm service providers whose businesses were affected by fields contracted for fallowing by IID in support of its water transfer programs, fully allocating the monies set aside for those purposes. Additionally, the Local Entity has committed over $10 million to support local non-profits, community organizations, and Imperial Valley business endeavors, focusing on business expansion and job creation and funded over $6.4 million in larger-scale grants to reopen a local beef processing plant, develop a sugarcane-based ethanol processing plant and assist in the development of an expanded new local food bank facility. In total, $48 million in funding has been disbursed to date, with the balance of the funding committed to grantees or used to fund authorized administrative costs since 2003.
A board subcommittee developed the funding award recommendations to expand on the success of previous grantees, support local businesses, assist with community outreach, and provide community benefits.
The mitigation funding is budgeted in the 2020 Water Transfer Operations and Maintenance budget. The grant awards recommended in this distribution total $440,000; when combined with administrative expenses and previous disbursements this will exceed the $50 million in Local Entity direct funding but is within the balance of interest accrued to the benefit of this account.
Staff will request approval of the funding recommendations at the next board meeting, and authority of the Water Department manager or general manager to execute grant agreements pending documentation of eligibility and development of grant-specific funding milestones and verification procedures by the Local Entity staff, in coordination with the grantees.
List of Grantees:
Brown Bag Coalition $80,000 to purchase a vehicle to tow portable showers and provide supplies to support the homeless.
Cancer Resource Center of the Desert- $90,000 for technology and telemedicine improvements.
Holtville Chamber of Commerce– $10,000 Community Outreach
Imperial Chamber of Commerce-$10,000 Community Outreach
Niland Chamber of Commerce-$10,000 Community Outreach
City of Westmorland $10,000 for pool repairs, operation and maintenance
Finley Elementary School-$15,000 for technology improvements (iPads of teachers and teacher aides).
Grace Smith Elementary School $20,000 for technology improvement for Computer Lab.
Grasso’s $60,000 for business expansion and improvements.
MANA of Imperial Valley $20,000 Community Benefit: Sponsorship of Imperial County youth and STEM conferences/activities).
Niland Fire Fund-Calipatria Unified School District $100,000. Rent support for displaced fire victims.
Pine Elementary School $20,000 Community Benefit: Technology Improvements.
Spay and Neuter of the Desert Society $15,000 Community Benefit: Dog/cat spay and neuter service.
St. Joseph’s Catholic Church $5,000 Community Benefit: Technology Improvements.