Statewide Support Entity

The Statewide Support Entity provides technical assistance and facilitates communication and collaboration necessary to meet MLRP goals. The Statewide Support Entity supports meaningful block grantee engagement of historically underserved groups, such as small farmers, farmers of color, disadvantaged communities, and tribes to ensure that these stakeholders have the ability to shape the direction of the program. The Statewide Support Entity works to ensure that planning and project outcomes benefit an array of stakeholders in overdrafted groundwater basins. Through this work, the Statewide Support Entity creates multibenefit land repurposing models, forms block grantee communities of practice, and captures learning that can motivate future action and demonstrate success.

Specifically, the Statewide Support Entity 

• Facilitates block grantee coordination and collaboration through regular meetings and special activities (e.g., annual Pause & Reflect meetings) and an online knowledge-sharing space. 

• Supports peer learning through the development of learning agendas, the formation of a block grantee community of practice and charter, and sharing lessons learned with external partners (such as the Regional Forest and Fire Capacity Program).

• Guides block grantees to resources developed or compiled by the Statewide Support Entity relevant to block grant implementation, including technical tools, grant management or land repurposing technical guidance, relevant funding opportunities, and project prioritization. (See the Resource Library page for resources the Statewide Support Entity has shared with block grantees.)

• Communicates the story of the long-term success of land repurposing to external audiences through lessons learned and successful examples. 

• Fosters inclusive and representative community engagement through clear definitions of program elements (e.g., repurposing, evapotranspiration, etc.); increased information accessibility; and monitoring and evaluating the efficacy of engaging disadvantaged communities, tribes, and socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. 

• Builds capacity and provides direct technical assistance to block grantees for implementing land repurposing work, leveraging Implementation Partners to provide specific technical assistance on topics prioritized by block grantees.

• Assist in monitoring and reporting outcomes achieved through the development or compilation of reporting metrics, theories of change, and reporting methodologies and tools (such as OpenET).