Grants and Contracts Details
Description
The purpose of this project is to administer and coordinate the watershed management
activities of the Kentucky River Authority within the Kentucky River Basin. Specific activities
include:
1) Providing technical assistance for watershed management activities within the basin,
including coordination of a Kentucky River Basin Team technical advisory group.
2) Representing the Kentucky River Basin at Kentucky Division of Water meetings and at
other meetings and conferences.
3) Coordinating the Kentucky River Watershed Watch volunteer water quality sampling
program laboratory analyses.
4) Developing an annual water quality assessment of the Kentucky River Basin based on the
water quality samples of Kentucky River Watershed Watch.
5) Managing the Kentucky River Authority’s watershed grant program.
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PROJECT JUSTIFICATION
The Kentucky Water Resources Research Institute has provided technical and administrative
services to the Kentucky River Authority in support of its river operations and watershed
management activities since 1997 when the KWRRI was contracted to manage KRA’s role in
the Kentucky Watershed Management Framework. Over the years the contract has been
updated and modified to more closely align with the specific needs and statutory requirements
of the KRA. More specifically, the KWRRI has helped the KRA to fulfill the following statutory
requirements:
• “Develop and implement comprehensive plans for protecting the water of the Kentucky
River basin, and to collaborate with the Natural Resources and Environmental Protection
Cabinet and other state agencies in coordinating Kentucky River basin water resource and
water quality activities.”
• “The authority may conduct research, collect and interpret data, assemble a data base,
disseminate reports on water management issues.”
These requirements are met through the following programs which are administered by the
KWRRI on behalf of the KRA:
• Watershed management and coordination: Employees of the KWRRI work with
personnel with the KRA and the Kentucky Division of Water to foster stakeholder
engagement across the basin in order to develop activities and projects that fulfill the goals
and objectives of the KRA and the Clean Water Act as fulfilled through the Kentucky
Division of Water watershed management process. The KWRRI works with the KRA,
KYDOW, and local stakeholders to leverage additional grants and financial resources to
improve and protect the water quality across the basins.
• Interagency coordination and representation: Employees of the KWRRI represent the
KRA and the interests of the Kentucky River Basin through the Kentucky Division of Water
river basin management team. Ms. Malissa McAlister (a KWRRI employee) serves as the
basin coordinator for the Kentucky River Basin. She also leads a basin management team
for the Kentucky River Basin made up of a range of stakeholders from across the basin.
Dr. Ormsbee travels to Capitol Hill each year to update KY’s congressional delegation on
the activities of the KWRRI within the basin as well as the broader needs of the Kentucky
River Basin.
• Kentucky River watershed watch: The KWRRI works with the Kentucky River watershed
watch group to collect and analyze water quality samples from over 100 sites across the
basin. KWRRI helps coordinate the collection, analysis, and reporting of the water quality
samples.
• Annual water quality assessment. The results of the annual KRWW sampling analysis
are reported to the KRA each year through a written report which serves as an annual
assessment of the water quality across the basin. KWRRI staff also provide the KRA with a
summary presentation about the results.
• Kentucky river basin grant program. The KWRRI has administered the KRA’s river
basin grant program since 1994. Since that time the KRA has awarded nearly 100 grants
(where each grant is typically $3,000 or less) totally in excess of $250,000. This highly
popular and successful program has helped improve the water quality of the Kentucky
River as well as promote the water quality and recreational mission of the KRA. Each year,
Ormsbee, Lindell Page 2 of 3
applicants submit proposals to the KWRRI which are then reviewed for technical
soundness and then presented to the KRA board. The KRA board then decides what
proposals to fund. Following their approval, the KWRRI disperses the grant funding to the
recipients and then monitors their progress through a mid-year and a final report. Grant
recipients are typically invited to make presentations about their projects at KRA meetings.
PROJECT MODIFICATION
Historically the services of the KWRRI have been provided to the KRA through an annual one-
year contract. At the request of the KRA, the KWRRI is submitting this year’s proposal of
services to cover a two-year period. This request is primarily driven by a desire to provide
grant recipients with greater flexibility in getting their funding in place and completing their
proposed activities. By increasing the total grant pool from an annual allotment of $15,000 to a
bi-annual allotment of $30,000, the KRA is provided with greater flexibility in increasing the
ceiling of the awards from $3000 to potentially $5,000 so as to provide a greater scope (and
potential impact) of the board selected projects.
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Status | Finished |
---|---|
Effective start/end date | 7/1/20 → 6/30/22 |
Funding
- KY River Authority: $258,887.00
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