The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality will host a water quality grant workshop in Safford on Oct. 11.

Tom Marsinco, ADEQ spokesman, said the workshop will begin at 10 a.m. at the Graham County General Services Building, 921 W. Thatcher Blvd., Safford. More information will be available in September, he said.

“These grant workshops are only held in a few places around the state,” Jan Holder, director of the Gila Watershed Partnership, said. During the workshop, ADEQ representatives will discuss the parameters of the agency’s grant program. The workshop will also give people an opportunity to discuss their project ideas with ADEQ representatives, Holder said.

The ADEQ’s mission is to protect and enhance public health and environment in Arizona, according to the agency’s Web site.

Holder said in a memorandum to partnership members that they should begin thinking about future grant projects, which must focus on improving or protecting water quality within Arizona.

The partnership has benefited from several ADEQ grants, including $115,950 for the Peterson Wash project, $110,000 for the Gila River cleanup project and $169,000 for the Kaler Ranch erosion project in Greenlee County.

According to the ADEQ Web site, the grant program allocates money from the U.S. Environmental Protec-tion Agency for nonpoint source management and watershed protection. ADEQ uses the money to implement on-the-ground water quality improvement projects to control nonpoint source pollution.

Nonpoint source pollution is polluted runoff from many different sources and remains the nation’s largest source of water quality problems, the ADEQ Web site states.

To obtain a copy of the Water Quality Improvement Grant Manual call Danese Cameron at (602) 771-4569.