OWEB Small Grant Program Area 18 (Crook)

Small Grant Program 2025-2027

Applications

Small Grant Areas accept applications year-round until April 15, 2027.
Each Small Grant Team will conduct at least four application reviews per state fiscal year (July 1 through June 30).

Current Application Period – Small Grant Area 18

Applications for Small Grant Area 18 are currently open.

The next review meeting will be scheduled in December 2026.
Please have grant applications submitted by Wednesday, November 18, 2026, to allow time for the Small Grant Team Contact to review the application and confirm that it is complete before the review meeting.

Funding

Maximum Request: $20,000
Match Requirement: 25%

Eligible Applicants

A grant applicant may be any Tribe, watershed council, soil and water conservation district, not-for-profit corporation, school, Oregon institution of higher education, independent not-for-profit institution of higher education, or political subdivision of this state that is not a state agency. A state agency or federal agency may partner with an eligible entity.

Project Sites

Projects must be within the Small Grant 18 boundaries (Crook) and may occur on sites owned by:

Private landowners
Nonprofit institutions
Schools
Community colleges
State institutions of higher education
Independent nonprofit institutions of higher education
Local, state, or federal agencies

Eligible Project Types

Fish Passage

Remove Irrigation or Push-Up Dams: Install alternatives (e.g., infiltration galleries, point-of-diversion transfers) or convert from gravity diversion to pumps.
Remove and/or Replace Culverts: As a condition of funding, such projects require Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife (ODFW) or Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form. For culverts under state roads, a 50% Oregon Department of Transportation match is required.
Remove or Replace Stream Crossings: As a condition of funding, such projects require ODFW or ODF technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form.

Urban Impact

Install Stormwater Runoff Treatments (e.g., create bioswales, pervious surfaces, native plant buffers, green roofs) where vegetation has exceeded its design life.
Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project.

Riparian Process and Function

Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs: Through managed grazing (e.g., fencing and developing off-channel watering) and plantings.
Manage Vegetation: Plant or seed native riparian species, propagate native riparian plants, or control weeds in conjunction with a restoration project.
Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project.
Restore Floodplain Reconnection.

Wetland Process and Function

Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs: Fence out livestock or develop alternative watering sites.
Manage Vegetation: Control weeds (in conjunction with a restoration project) or plant native wetland species.
Restore Wetlands: Excavate or remove fill or eliminate drainage structures.
Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project.

Instream Process and Function

Improve Instream Habitat: Place large wood, or boulders.
Manage Erosion: Bioengineer stream banks, slope stream banks, or develop water gaps/streambank barbs.
Eradicate or Control Exotic Aquatic Species.

Private Road Impact Reduction

Decommission Roads.
Improve Surface Drainage: Surface road drainage improvements, gravel surfacing, stream crossings.

Upland Process and Function

Manage Erosion on Agricultural Lands: Employ laser leveling, create windbreaks, install sediment basins, develop filter strips/grassed waterways, seed bare areas.

OWEB may require a grazing management plan, if appropriate, prior to release of funds. For post-fire areas, seed only where natural regeneration is unlikely (e.g., slopes of 30% or more) or where it can be demonstrated that seeding would prevent the spread of noxious weeds.

Manage Nutrient and Sediment Inputs to Streams through the management of grazing, vegetation cover, or animal waste.
Manage Vegetation: Prescribed burning (except when conducted as part of a commercial harvest), noncommercial thinning, control/remove juniper (except late-seral/old-growth), plant or seed (native upland species or native beneficial mixes preferred), or control weeds (in conjunction with a restoration project).

Projects for prescribed burning to reduce fuel loads require Oregon Department of Forestry technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form.

Manage Wildlife: Install water guzzlers.
Employ Integrated Pest Management in conjunction with a restoration project.

Water Quantity / Irrigation Efficiency

Recharge Groundwater: Through infiltration galleries, infiltration basins, roof water harvesting, or similar practices.
Implement Irrigation Practices: Pipe existing ditches, recover or eliminate tailwater.

Such projects must not adversely impact the current level of groundwater in a Groundwater Management Area or must measurably reduce the diversion of water at the point of diversion.
As a condition of funding, irrigation efficiency projects require local watermaster technical review and approval, or tribal government review and approval for projects on Tribal Trust Lands, using a standard OWEB form.
Landowner agreements for irrigation efficiency projects require affirmation that the landowner and/or irrigation district agree that water conserved with the project shall remain instream.
For projects improving irrigation practices for the benefit of water quality, the application shall describe how sediment, nutrients, bacteria, or waste enter a water body, along with sediment and nutrient load calculations.

Project Requirements

On-the-ground restoration project in Oregon.
Clearly demonstrates watershed benefit to aquatic species, wildlife, or watershed health.
Uses and clearly identifies (by practice code or page/paragraph number) in the small grant application technical guidance from at least one of the eight approved sources.
Consistent with the Small Grant Team’s priority watershed concerns and current list of eligible project types.
Demonstrates 25% secured match funding based on the total OWEB award.
Distinct and different from projects already funded (or being considered for funding) by OWEB.
Adheres to Small Grant Administrative Rules.

Technical Guides and Resources

Applicants must cite at least one of eight approved Small Grant Technical Guides and Resources available at:
🔗 https://www.oregon.gov/oweb/grants/small-grants/Pages/small-grants.aspx

Forms

Please visit the OWEB website for all required forms.

Apply Online

OGMS login is required to submit your application.

To obtain a login, please follow the instructions provided on the OWEB website.

Need Assistance

For questions please contact:

Small Grant Team 18 Contact

Melissa Albertson

Crook County SWCD

541-447-3548

Melissa.albertson@crookswcd.com