Skip to main content

Awarded Water Quality Improvement Grants

Following is a list of the Cycle 19 grants awarded for the Water Quality Improvement Grant (WQIG) program.

Greenlee County

WQIG ID#: 19-002
Awardee: Menges Ranches
Project Title: Menges Ranch Water System Maintenance Project
Grant Awarded: $49,580
Improvement: This project was awarded to replace outdated diesel water pump technologies with updated solar-powered pump installations. The installations allow for a more reliable and sustainable water system that will decrease opportunities for system failure resulting in cattle entering the waterway and contributing E. coli to the San Francisco River.

Santa Cruz County

WQIG ID#: 19-004
Awardee: Desert Botanical Gardens
Project Title: Wetland Restoration on O'Donnell Creek, Santa Cruz Co
Grant Awarded: $67,430
Improvement: This project was awarded to restore the degraded wetlands and adjacent floodplain and uplands along O'Donnell Creek, a tributary to the Babocomari River. The project will improve the natural filtering capacity of wetlands for the pollutants E. coli and sediment originating from active pastures and ultimately impacting the San Pedro River.

Following is a list of the Cycle 18 grants awarded for the Water Quality Improvement Grant (WQIG) program.


Cochise County
WQIG ID#: 18-001
Awardee: Hereford Natural Resource Conservation District | Horseshoe Draw Flood | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: Erosion Control to Reduce Sediment and E. coli Transport to San Pedro River
Grant Awarded: $993,880
Improvement: This project was awarded to construct an earthen embankment across Horseshoe Draw, an area that is prone to large flood events, which releases large amounts of sediment and E. coli to the San Pedro River.  Engineering design for the project has been completed with the majority of WQIG funds being utilized for construction.

WQIG ID#: 18-004
Awardee: Borderlands Restoration Project | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: Sheet Erosion and E. Coli Mitigation on Sands Ranch, San Pedro River Uplands
Grant Awarded: $130,500
Improvement: This project was awarded to install approximately 1,000 small rock erosion control structures.  These structures will reduce sediment and E. coli from entering the San Pedro River by reducing overland flow, sheet and rill erosion.

WQIG ID#: 18-006
Awardee: Borderland Restoration Project | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: Erosion Control, Sediment Retention and Riparian Restoration in the Babocomari River Watershed
Grant Awarded: $117,291
Improvement: This project was awarded to mitigate eroding rangelands on the Babocomari Ranch and adjacent ranches.  Low-tech restoration techniques will be installed strategically to reduce sediment and E. coli movement to the Babocomari River, which flows into the San Pedro River.

WQIG ID#: 18-007
Awardee: Running N Bar Ranch Project
Project Title: Running N Bar Ranch Grant
Grant Awarded: $60,291
Improvement: This project was awarded to improve vegetation near the San Pedro River. The project includes additional water sources to better rotate livestock and the treatment of 640 acres to improve and enhance grasslands, therefore reducing overland flow.

Coconino County
WQIG ID#: 18-005
Awardee: National Forest Fund Project | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: Oak Creek Erosion Control Project – Schnebly Hill Road 
Grant Awarded: $50,000
Improvement: This project was awarded to reduce erosion from Schnebly Hill Road. Along with $200,000 provided from the National Forest Fund, the project will repair and install structures to reduce sediment and E. coli into Oak Creek along the highly recreated Schnebly Hill Road

Greenlee County
WQIG ID#: 18-002
Awardee:  Gila Watershed Partnership | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: San Francisco and Blue Rivers E. coli Reduction Project
Grant Awarded: $193,292
Improvement: This project was awarded to install about 1,000 small rock structures, along with planting of native plants to reduce erosion and E.coli to the San Francisco and Blue Rivers.  Along with the rock structures the Gila Watershed Partnership will provide outreach to the community in high recreation areas.

Yavapai County
WQIG ID#: 18-003
Awardee: Prescott Creeks | View Awardee Website >
Project Title: Slaughterhouse Gulch Channel Restoration & Water Quality Improvements
Grant Awarded: $374,394.30
Improvement:  Located entirely on land owned by Yavapai Prescott Indian Tribe. The project features the restoration and enhancement of a heavily degraded riparian corridor along with enhancement and protection of an existing wetland near Granite Creek and Watson Lake.