Some of the larger projects funded by OWEB take three or four months to complete the review process. This program gets things done quickly. ODA oversees distribution of funds as they flow from OWEB to individual SWCDs. There are a lot of acronyms flying around in the process, but as far as landowners, educators, and others are concerned, that's not a problem. The money arrives, the projects get done.
Districts can spend it all on one project or spread it over many projects.
There are guidelines on what the money can be spent on, but it is up to the districts to decide what is worthy of an application, which is submitted to ODA for final approval. But with this program, if you have a clear idea of what you want to do, you can have the application completed within an hour. There were serious streambank erosion problems on an 800-foot stretch of Fifteenmile Creek, south of The Dalles. We had to be creative in this project. The old method of using riprap to control erosion is just not environmentally acceptable now.