SUBJECT
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Heartland Headwaters Act Fund Allocation and Project Applications (Action Item)
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DESCRIPTION
The Florida Legislature passed HB 573, known as the Heartland Headwaters Protection and Sustainability Act, which recognizes the importance of water resources in and around Polk County. The Act declared that fostering partnerships between Regional Water Supply Authority and local governments is in the state interest, and in doing so requires that the Polk Regional Water Cooperative (PRWC) prepare an annual comprehensive report listing projects that are needed to protect and restore the region's water resources so that these may be considered for state funding support. The Annual report must be submitted to the State by December 1 of each year.
The Florida Legislature and Governor appropriated $20,000,000 for PRWC projects in FY 2022-2023. The attached table shows how those funds will be allocated to PRWC member governments based upon applications provided in the last Heartland Headwaters Act funding cycle. This allocation of funds has been reviewed and approved by the PRWC Technical Advisory Committee.
Once the allocation of funds has been approved the next step is for the PRWC to work with the FDEP to provide a grant agreement to each of the PRWC members who are receiving funds. This grant agreement will be made directly between the FDEP and the PRWC member government. Unlike past years, the PRWC will not act as a pass-through agency.
Applications for Heartland Headwaters Act funding for the FY 2023-2024 are currently being solicited from the PRWC member governments. The applications will be due by September 16, 2022. Once the applications are received, they will be reviewed and ranked for inclusion in the Annual Report. The Annual Report will be provided to the PRWC Board of Directors at the November 2022 meeting and subsequently submitted to the State by December 1, 2022.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Heartland Headwaters Act Member F...
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