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How EMWD Successfully Pursues Grants and Loans
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astern Municipal Water District (EMWD) supplies municipal water, wastewater, and recycled water services to nearly 900,000 residents of Riverside County, California. It frequently engages in major projects that include infrastructure construction and water quality improvement. EMWD is in a growing region that is currently only about 40 percent built out, which means that it is under a continual demand to expand its plants and other infrastructure. In order to do this in a cost-effective manner that does not burden existing rate payers, EMWD has a well-developed grants and loans team that researches and vets around 1,800 funding opportunities a year, determines which ones are appropriate for EMWD’s projects and schedules, and follows through on awarded grants with rigorous post-award compliance reporting. In this interview, John Ward, EMWD’s director of engineering services, and Bonnie Wright, the district’s grants and loans manager, tell Municipal Water Leader about the grants and loans program and how it benefits EMWD’s vital programs, customers, and bottom line.
foundations. That role prepared me to serve as EMWD’s grants and loans manager.
John Ward: I’ve worked at EMWD for over 30 years and have held a number of positions, including design engineer, project manager, and program manager. I am now the director of engineering services. My duties include the management of EMWD’s capital projects controls and the oversight of grant management, including grant pursuit and grant compliance. My background in project design, project cost tracking, and project management positions me well to support these efforts.
Municipal Water Leader: How many grants are applied for per year, and how many are usually awarded? What percentage of EMWD’s funding comes through grants?
Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about EMWD. Bonnie Wright: EMWD is a municipal water, wastewater, and recycled water service provider serving close to 900,000 residents in southwestern Riverside County in Southern California. EMWD serves more than 150,000 water connections, approximately 246,000 sewer connections, and nearly 600 recycled water connections. Municipal Water Leader: Please give us a sense of the overall role that grant writing plays in EMWD’s operations.
Bonnie Wright: EMWD’s board of directors has established a strategic goal of aggressively pursuing external funding for critical district projects. EMWD’s aggressive pursuit of outside funding is a key strategic initiative to reduce the financial burden on EMWD’s customers. For example, EMWD’s 5‑year capital improvement program totals $470 million for fiscal year end 2020 to fiscal year end 2024 and currently includes EMWD’s largest construction project to date, the Perris II desalter, which has an estimated total project budget of Aerial view of the area of the Perris North project, with March Air Reserve Base pictured on the right. $63.4 million, 40 percent of which is grant funded. Municipal Water Leader: Please tell us about your Over the past 5 years, EMWD has received a total of backgrounds and how you ended up in your current positions. $238 million in grant and loan funding.
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PHOTOS COURTESY OF EMWD.
Bonnie Wright: I joined EMWD 12 years ago after working for a member of Congress. In that position, one of my duties was assisting nonprofit organizations and municipalities with funding opportunities released by federal agencies and
Bonnie Wright: We research approximately 1,800 funding opportunities a year from all different sectors. Approximately 10 percent align with EMWD’s projects and are further considered. These opportunities are presented to a senior management grants and loans committee for further discussion. The committee decides which to pursue based on actual program funding, the number of anticipated awards, and the alignment of the project schedule with the funding schedule. In total, we pursue 8–12 funding opportunities each year and
