In 2010, the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) Board directed staff to commence the development of a County-Wide Master Plan (CWMP) to identify, evaluate, track and fund water and power stewardship needs throughout Placer County. In 2019 PCWA began accepting online project funding requests for PCWA's Financial Assistance Program (FAP) from the CWMP Project Database.
The CWMP is a dynamic project database that contains potential projects and information from PCWA and eligible entities, that identify county-wide water and power resource needs. The CWMP was developed to facilitate the prioritization and funding needs of eligible projects and programs based on the project's primary benefit.
The foundation of the CWMP is rooted in the following Guiding Principles that were created based on the Agency Act to reflect the purpose of PCWA's formation:
- 1. Provide access to safe and reliable drinking water
- 2. Water and power resource stewardship
- 3. Maintain and improve water supply and power reliability
- 4. Maintain and improve infrastructure reliability
- 5. Support the well-being of Placer County and its residents through water, energy, and stewardship programs.
The benefits and characteristics of a project are identified and categorized according to the following Elements:
- 1. Unserved Areas
- 2. Water Infrastructure Reliability
- 3. Water Supply Reliability
- 4. Renewable Energy Development
- 5. Watershed Stewardship
- 6. Agriculture
- 7. Conservation and Water Use Efficiency
- 8. Public Education and Outreach
Categorizing the projects by primary element produces an understanding of the magnitude of resource needs and assists PCWA's Board in setting strategic objectives to prioritize these needs to best match funding opportunities that exist.
Eligible Entities
The entity's eligibility is set in the definition of “District” as presented in PCWA's Policy. It is the entity's responsibility to determine its eligibility, request registration from PCWA and keep the information contained in the Project Database current.
Financial Assistance Program
The CWMP is used to support PCWA's FAP for funding purposes. The PCWA Board adopted the FAP Policy which defines eligible entities, provides for the allocation of funding, details the CWMP Elements, establishes the Board setting of strategic objectives and sets funding request submission requirements, timeline, evaluation, recommendation and award.
The Board's approval of the annual budget, typically at the 2nd Board meeting of November, will be the start of the FAP funding request submittal period, which will run through February 20 of the following year. FAP funding requests may be submitted by eligible entities for their projects in the form of either loans or grants during this time. FAP funding requests need to be received by February 20 to be considered for funding assistance. For best results, eligible entities should submit project(s) that best meet the strategic objectives as identified by PCWA's Board.