R2014-44 AUTHORIZING WATERSHED RESEARCH AND EDUCATION AGREEMENT WITH AGRICULTURAL WATERSHED INSTITUTE

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AWI active projects and pending proposals related to Lake Decatur watershed and/or perennial biomass crops —April 2014 # Prime Grantee Project or Proposal Title I(Notes) I Funder/Program Status Awl role&budget Active Projects 1 AWI Financial support of watershed research and education City of Decatur agreement Past agreement City funds can be used for (AWI and the City enter agreements for general or project- covered May-Dec personnel, other expenses& specific support. This is a short term agreement due to a 2013; renewal for producer incentives in the change in the City's fiscal year. Future funding will reflect City 2014-15 in Lake Decatur watershed; budget priorities and results of ongoing project efforts.) progress $62,500/yr requested 2 AWI Local Bioenergy Initiative—Phase 111 Walton Family Foundation— Agreement covers Goals, outputs&outcomes (The scope includes using WFF funding to advance co- Mississippi River Bsin Dec 2013-Dec'14; included in grant document; production of perennial biomass and ecosystem services Freshwater Conservation Renewal expected funding for this year is throughout the Midwest, with the Lake Decatur watershed as a Program for future funding $109,005. showcase site, and to promote perennial biomass enterprises. 3 City of Decatur; Corley landfill conversion to native prairie grass bioenergy site Illinois DNR—Mud to Parks Grant awarded; See project notes; PM Keith Alexander (City contractors will spread dredged lake sediment on an 11 program sediment hauling $16,500 budgeted for seed& acre closed landfill.AWI will coordinate establishment of prairie contract to be re- establishment costs;AWI grasses&forbs as a bioenergy/forage crop demonstration.) bid summer 2014 labor unpaid 4 AWI; Subgrant to Illinois Lake Decatur Watershed TMDL Implementation Planning Illinois EPA—CWA Sec 604(b) Project started Project admin, stakeholder State Water Survey for (Includes stakeholder committees in two subwatersheds. Water Quality Management April 2012; end engagement, scenario modeling Perennial foragetenergy crop scenarios have been modeled for Planning; date July 1, 2014 development, TMDL plan water quality and farm economics by ISWS. Some of AWI's —40%matching funds from the preparation; $86,492 perennial biomass outreach is included in this project.) City of Decatur excluding subgrants 5 Western Illinois Univ.; Developing the biomass residential heating market for US USDA—Ag Marketing Service— 2-yr project to be Convene focus group for PI Adee Athi aman farmers and industry. Identifying the"right"consumers for Federal-State Marketing completed pretest of survey instrument; Y r1' biomass products Improvement Program summer 2014 interview mfrs&vendors; $11,000 AWI subcontract 6 AWI Prairie for 8ioenergy demonstration plots Caterpillar Inc.—Project is tied to Plots planted in AWI manages the plots, (Cat makes the site available for demonstration plots and Cat's corporate sustainability 2011; project including harvesting for covered the initial establishment cost. Site is used for an annual program. duration is open- forage and/or bioenergy; Cat field day. Grasses to be harvested for hay in 2014.) ended reimburses direct expenses 7 Agricultural Drainage Demonstrate and evaluate saturated buffers at the field scale to USDA—CIG Grant awarded to Assisted in site identification; Management Coalition; reduce nitrates and phosphorus from surface and subsurface ADMC; Decatur- collect water samples from PM Leonard Binstock field drainage systems at sites in IA, IL, IN, MN area buffer Decatur-area site for testing; (Saturated buffers have potential to use"lost' nutrients to installed June $1,720 for sample collection; fertilize forage or bioenergy grasses.) 2013 other collaboration unpaid 8 University of Illinois; Multifunctional perennial cropping systems for introducing local USDA—AFRI Al 601:Agriculture Grant awarded; Organize focus groups& PD Sarah Taylor Lovell; food and biomass production for small farmers in the Upper economics&rural communities. research including field days, provide input on Co-PD Greg Mclsaac Sangamon River Watershed Small&medium-sized farms farm scale plans scenarios&benefits; (AWI) Five-year research/education/outreach project will address an to start June 2014 $16,857 budgeted for array of perennial crops including, but not limited to, forage and Mclsaac time; other AWI bioenergy crops. labor/expenses to be unpaid 9 University of Illinois; Intensively Managed Landscapes Critical Zone Observatory National Science Foundation— Grant awarded AWI to assist Ul science PDs Praveen Kumar& Upper Sangamon is one of three Midwestern watersheds to be NSF funds 9 CZOs nationally; 2014 team as unpaid collaborator Bruce Rhoads studied under this 5-year Grant this is the only one in Midwest