(a) A municipality, local agency, or nonprofit organization may only receive a grant under this article if the board determines that both of the following apply:

(1) The municipality, local agency, or nonprofit organization has adequate legal authority to manage the grant money.

(2) The municipality, local agency, or nonprofit organization is a member of a local watershed group.

(b) Grants may be awarded for projects that implement methods for attaining watershed improvements or for a monitoring program described in a local watershed management plan in an amount not to exceed five million dollars ($5,000,000) per project. At least 85 percent of the total amount in the subaccount shall be used for capital outlay projects described in this subdivision.

(c) Eligible projects under this article may do any of the following:

(1) Reduce chronic flooding problems or control water velocity and volume using vegetation management or other nonstructural methods.

(2) Protect and enhance greenbelts and riparian and wetlands habitats.

(3) Restore or improve habitat for aquatic or terrestrial species.

(4) Monitor the water quality conditions and assess the environmental health of the watershed.

(5) Use geographic information systems to display and manage the environmental data describing the watershed.

(6) Prevent watershed soil erosion and sedimentation of surface waters.

(7) Support beneficial groundwater recharge capabilities.

(8) Otherwise reduce the discharge of pollutants to state waters from storm water or nonpoint sources.

(d) (1) Grants may be awarded to municipalities, local agencies, or nonprofit organizations for the development of local watershed management plans in amounts not to exceed two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000) per local watershed management plan.

(2) Funding under this subdivision may be used to develop components of local watershed management plans that contribute to the development or implementation of species recovery plans.

(e) Grants may be awarded to meet requirements for nonfederal matching funds set forth in Section 205(j) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1285(j)) or Section 319(h) of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. Sec. 1329(h)).

(f) Projects funded under this article shall be designed to withstand substantial flooding and shall include a minimum 10-year maintenance program and shall demonstrate the potential to provide watershed benefits for 20 years.

(g) A proponent of a project funded from the subaccount, except a grant recipient pursuant to subdivision (d), shall be required to submit to the board a monitoring and reporting plan that does all of the following:

(1) Describes the baseline water quality of the waterbody impacted.

(2) Describes the manner in which the proposed watershed restoration activities are implemented.

(3) Determines the effectiveness of the watershed restoration activities in preventing or reducing pollution.

(4) Determines, to the extent feasible, the changes in the pattern of flow in affected streams, including reduction of flood flows and increases in spring, summer, and fall flows that result from the implementation of the project.

(5) Determines, to the extent feasible, the economic benefits resulting from changes determined pursuant to paragraph (3) or (4).

(h) (1) A grant applicant shall inform the board with regard to necessary public agency approvals, entitlements, and permits that may be necessary to implement the project. The municipality, local agency, or nonprofit organization shall certify to the board, at the appropriate time, that those approvals, entitlements, and permits have been granted.

(2) A grant applicant shall notify, in writing, adjoining landowners of its request for funding under this article and the scope of the project for which the funding is requested. If this paragraph requires notification of more than 200 landowners, notification may be made by letter to the owners of record of the 200 largest parcels and by publication for at least 20 days in a local newspaper of general circulation. Upon completion of the notification required under this paragraph, the municipality, local agency, or nonprofit organization shall inform the board that the notification has occurred.

(i) The board may adopt regulations to carry out this article.

(j) In awarding grants under this article, the board shall consider the extent to which projects do the following:

(1) Consider the entire ecosystem to be protected or restored.

(2) Include definable targets and desired future conditions.

(3) Support local community institutional capacity to restore the watershed.

(4) Include community decisionmaking by affected stakeholders in project design and fund allocation.

(5) Help protect intact or nearly intact ecosystems and watersheds.

(6) Consider the economic benefits of the restoration project or program.

(7) Address the root causes of degradation, rather than the symptoms.

(8) Maximize the use of other restoration funds.

(9) Include an educational component, if appropriate.

(10) Improve the quality of drinking water and support other beneficial uses of waters of the state, including coastal waters.

(Added by Stats. 1999, Ch. 725, Sec. 1. Approved in Proposition 13 at the March 7, 2000, election.)