Infrastructure Development

The program aims to support efforts that combine community services and physical improvements to protect the health of Californians who are most vulnerable to extreme heat.

Tribal Nations and supporting organizations do critical work to engage their communities in important decisions around energy infrastructure and its impacts on economic opportunities, cultural resources, and the homelands and spaces that they steward. The $6 million Tribal Energy Capacity Expansion (TECE) Prize, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and facilitated through the National Laboratory of the Rockies, addresses an urgent need for additional resources to help Tribal Nations grow their capacity in energy infrastructure permitting and decision-making. This prize is technology-neutral, meaning that participating teams may focus on capacity needs related to any energy technology. All submissions should focus on expanding capacity to represent Tribal priorities in energy permitting and decision-making activities. The prize will provide winning teams with cash awards and direct technical assistance, including peer learning activities. During Phase 1 – Capacity Needs, applicants will identify current capacity gaps affecting their ability to participate in priority energy development areas. Awardees will receive funding, technical assistance, and an invitation to enter Phase 2.

The Watershed Resilience Conservation Implementation grant program funds projects that reduce water use and improve water efficiency, helping communities save water and build resilience to drought and supply shortages. The purpose of this program is to fund the implementation of practical water conservation projects that reduce water demand and improve efficiency at the watershed scale. The program supports grantees in carrying out actions such as irrigation efficiency upgrades, leak detection and repair, water-efficient landscaping conversions, metering and monitoring improvements, and other measures that directly reduce water consumption. Anticipated opening in 2027.

State-funded Sustainable Communities grants are intended to support and implement Regional Transportation Plan (RTP) Sustainable Communities Strategies/Alternative Planning Strategies (SCS/APS) (where applicable) and to ultimately achieve the State’s greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target of 40 and 85 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 and 2045, respectively. Federal-funded Strategic Partnerships and Strategic Partnership Transit grants support Federal Planning Factors and address State highway/transit issues of regional, interregional, and/or statewide significance, in partnership with Caltrans.

To assist communities and regions in devising and implementing long-term economic development efforts through both construction and non-construction projects with bottom-up strategies that build on regional assets to spur economic growth and resiliency. The Public Works program focuses primarily on construction, while the EAA program supports a wide range of construction and non-construction activities in regions experiencing adverse economic changes.

To help develop and improve essential community facilities in the rural West. This program offers short-term loans for early property acquisition and predevelopment, interim construction costs and long-term permanent financing.

The Pre-Development Fund supports communities facing short-term infrastructure challenges by providing pre-development capital. WFX’s flexible pre-development offers forgivable loans can address financing roadblocks or serve as bridge loans. WFX can quickly deploy funds to advance infrastructure solutions.