CITY OF RIALTO
GROWING WATER SMART TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANT APPLICATION due Friday, October 20, 2023
Expectations of Recipients: Award recipients will sign a grant agreement, provide quarterly project status updates, and submit a final project report with outcomes, lessons learned, and progress photos.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: describe your project, including how your project integrates land use and water to improve community resiliency. Describe how the project will lead to intended outcomes such as water savings, reduced flooding, or improved water quality. Explain how your project advances one or more goals in your Growing Water Smart Workshop action plan.
The primary objective of this grant proposal is to provide clear and visually appealing illustrations, diagrams, flowcharts, and photographs to support the City of Rialto’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) Guidelines.
The City’s current MWELO Guidelines need to be strengthened by integrating and implementing internal (for department staff representing the utilities, community development, engineering, and parks and recreation departments) and external (for developers, residents, businesses, and non-government organizations) customer support-driven guidelines that are easy-to-follow, promotes water-efficient landscaping practices, and a healthy tree canopy that provides sustainable carbon sequestration.
The project integrates land use and water resiliency by implementing the state’s MWELO in a way that will provide long-term sustainability to the City of Rialto by:
Drafting a concise and informative handbook/document guidelines that are easily accessible online and understood by residents, developers, and city staff.
Conducting training sessions for staff to ensure the effective implementation of the guidelines.
Prioritizing a healthy tree canopy in areas that are viewed as more beneficial for tree resiliency than simply replacing turf with native/drought-tolerant landscape.
Developing a standard on permeable ground cover and examples of when this option should be considered as a priority over traditional ground cover currently listed in our guidelines for new development and/or parking lot locations. Guidelines will include permeable asphalt/mix and may include pavers, stones, and landscapes that will help with stormwater management.
The current MWELO referenced by Rialto departments is interpreted differently by each department and needs to be evaluated and redeveloped so that all city departments are interpreting the guidelines consistently. This includes ensuring that information given to developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities is implemented consistently throughout the city with the use of visually appealing illustrations, diagrams, flowcharts, and photographs.
During the California Growing Water Smart Workshop, city staff participants outlined the goal to “Update the Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance.” After the workshop, staff met in accordance with the plan formulated during the workshop, with department staff and directors to obtain feedback on the city’s MWELO from those who did not participate in the workshop. After those meetings, it was determined that instead of updating the city’s MWELO, a more comprehensive objective is to provide clear and visually appealing illustrations, diagrams, flowcharts, and photographs to support the City of Rialto’s Model Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (MWELO) Guidelines that meets the need of internal and external customers. Since the workshop, staff that attended the workshop has held 7 meetings to ensure that once grant money became available, we developed a well-rounded proposal that would aid the city in meeting the goal outlined during the workshop.
The second goal identified during the workshop was to “Develop Infrastructure to Increase Capacity to Manage and Utilize Stormwater.” Formulating MWELO Guidelines that meet the needs of guidelines given to developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities will include an element for stormwater management by developing a standard for using permeable ground cover when practicable.
SERVICE PROVIDER: list the desired technical assistance provider/consultant and include the consultant’s scope of work and cost estimate, if available. If an RFP will be issued, describe any steps you took to design the project scope within the budget available.
After grant money is received, the City of Rialto will seek proposals from qualified consultants to provide professional services for developing MWELO Guidelines for use by developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities. The proposal will request assistance in understanding where each department houses its MWELO plans and how those plans are implemented to develop a systematic approach to how each department interprets and communicates those plans to developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities. Next, the consultant will make recommendations for improvements in applying the city’s MWELO Guidelines consistently across departments and how those guidelines are communicated to internal and external customers. Lastly, the consultant will develop a cost proposal that can be used in applying for future grant funding by:
Drafting a concise and informative handbook/document guidelines that are easily accessible online and understood by residents, developers, and city staff.
Conducting training sessions for staff to ensure the effective implementation of the guidelines.
Prioritizing a healthy tree canopy in areas that are viewed as more beneficial for tree resiliency than simply replacing turf with native/drought-tolerant landscape.
Developing a standard on permeable ground cover and examples of when this option should be considered as a priority over traditional ground cover currently listed in our guidelines for new development and/or parking lot locations. Guidelines will include permeable asphalt/mix and may include pavers, stones, and landscapes that will help with stormwater management.
City staff who participated in the California Growing Water Smart Workshop and who continue to meet since the workshop will interview at least 3 consultants to select the consult that develops a comprehensive strategy for conducting an internal analysis that best allocates $10,000 seed money and develop a process for the city to be in compliance with the state’s annual MWELO reporting.
Interviews and Proposals will be evaluated based on:
Relevant experience and expertise in implementing a city’s MWELO Guidelines.
Demonstration of ability to manage similar projects successfully.
Cost-effectiveness and budget considerations, i.e., getting the most bang for our buck.
Quality and clarity of the proposed scope of work being results originated and production of a final document.
PROJECT BUDGET: a detailed project budget. Please include amounts and sources of secured or pending matching funds.
The budget will be $10,000 with no match contribution from the city’s coffers. As detailed above, the budget for implementing a city's MWELO Guidelines with a $10,000 budget requires careful planning to allocate funds effectively. Therefore, the budget allocation will depend on proposals received from consultants, consultant interviews, and consultants' ability to develop MWELO Guidelines for use by developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities. The proposal will request assistance in understanding where each department houses its MWELO plans and how those plans are implemented to develop a systematic approach to how each department interprets and communicates those plans to developers, residents/businesses, and used internally for city-owned facilities.
Next, the consultant will make recommendations for improvements in applying the city’s MWELO Guidelines consistently across departments and how those guidelines are communicated to internal and external customers. Lastly, the consultant will develop a cost proposal that can be used in applying for future grant funding with an emphasis on building towards advancing the city’s MWELO Guidelines.
DELIVERABLES: describe the deliverable(s) and/or outcome(s) expected from the project. Also, describe how you might measure the benefits identified in the project description.
Prepare comprehensive documentation of the project, including financial reports, outcomes, and lessons learned. Deliver a final report summarizing the project's impact and making recommendations for future actions.
PROJECT MANAGEMENT: the names and contact information of 1-2 staff responsible for managing the project and overseeing the service provider. Specify whether the project is woman-led, as this may qualify for support from a Sonoran Institute partnership with Planet Women. Limit the final application to four pages.
The City of Rialto employee is a woman who has been part of the initial concept of the California Growing Water Workshop and is charged with leading the Project Management of the grant funds is: Toyasha Sebbag, Assistant to the City Manager, [email protected]