Rice Creek Watershed District's Water Quality Grants cover 25 to 50 percent of project cost, or 75 percent for a highly beneficial project, up to $10,000 either way, for a rain garden or prairie restoration in the Twin Cities area.
Key takeaways
- Rice Creek Watershed District covers 25 to 50 percent of project cost, or 75 percent for a highly beneficial project, up to $10,000 (ricecreek.org).
- A free site visit from district staff produces the Water Quality Plan your application is built around.
- A Citizen Advisory Committee reviews applications before the district board makes the funding decision.
- This is the district's larger Water Quality Grants tier, separate from its smaller Mini-Grant program.
How the Rice Creek Water Quality Grants work
Rice Creek Watershed District's Water Quality Grants reimburse 25 to 50 percent of project cost for a residential rain garden or prairie restoration, rising to 75 percent for a project the district rates as highly beneficial to water quality, with a $10,000 cap either way. The process starts with a free conservation site visit, which produces a Water Quality Plan design for the property. A Citizen Advisory Committee reviews the completed application, and the district board makes the final funding decision. Reimbursement is paid against submitted receipts after installation.
Who this program is for
The program serves land and homeowners inside the Rice Creek Watershed District, which covers parts of the northern Twin Cities metro. Note that this is a separate, larger grant tier from the district's own smaller Mini-Grant program, which runs concurrently under a different section of the district's site; the two are not the same application.
See the Minnesota rebates page for the current application link and program details.
Plan the planting first
The Pollinator Patch App helps you plan a native yard matched to your ZIP code, so you know what you want to plant before you start the Rice Creek paperwork.
