The Wildlife Conservation board this week approved approximately $33.1 million in grants for 22 projects to enhance stream flows to benefit fish and wildlife habitat throughout California.

The Legislature appropriated funding for these projects as authorized by the Water Quality, Supply and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Proposition 1). A total of $200 million was allocated to the WCB for projects that enhance stream flow.

Projects were chosen through a competitive grant process, judged by the WCB, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and the State Water Resources Control Board.

Funded projects include:

• A $609,970 grant to the University of California Regents for a cooperative project with UNR and the Desert Research Institute, to expand monitoring, scientific studies and modeling in the Tahoe-Truckee Basin. The results will guide watershed-scale forest thinning strategies that enhance stream flow within an area that provides critical habitat for threatened species. The project is located primarily on National Forest lands in the Lake Tahoe Basin and Tahoe National Forest.
• A $4.8 million grant to The Wildlands Conservancy.
• A $693,408 grant to the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District.
• A $726,374 grant to Mendocino County Resource Conservation District
• A $5 million grant to the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency.
• A $851,806 grant to the Sonoma Resource Conservation District.
• A $5.3 million grant to the Alameda County Water District.
• A $3.9 million grant to The Nature Conservancy.