GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- An ambitious but slow-moving plan to rebuild the rapids in the Grand River downtown has received its first big dose of federal funds via a conservation grant announced this week that will also support erosion control and wetlands restoration on farmlands in the watershed.

Grand Rapids Whitewater, a nonprofit spearheading the multi-million dollar river project, says it's getting more than $4 million of an $8 million habitat restoration grant awarded to the Grand Valley Metro Council (GVMC) in November.

The money, which will be used to build natural rock and log structures during reconstruction of the river through downtown Grand Rapids, almost doubles the total funds raised for a project that's still working through the design phase after being slowed by the presence of an aquatic endangered species.

"It's a big boost now that we're starting to see federal support," said project coordinator Matt Chapman. "This is the first significant pot of federal funds."

Since inception, Grand Rapids Whitewater has raised $5 million in private donations for the restoration project, which eventually plans to remove the Sixth Street Dam and reconstruct the riverbed down to Fulton Street to resemble the waterway as it was before the rapids were removed a century ago.

Prior to the grant, the project had received less than $200,000 in federal dollars for targeted studies to, among other things, assess sediments behind the dam.

The total projected cost upon completion has grown from about $20 million initially to $35 million now, said Chapman. About $10 million is needed to design and build a new sea lamprey barrier upstream of the Sixth Street Dam.

Grand Rapids Whitewater plans to launch a formal capital campaign to raise about $15 million and seek state and federal grants or earmarks for the rest. There are no plans currently to seek a local millage or tax request to fund construction, he said.

"We're looking to do as much of this as we can though state and federal funds, and private donations," Chapman said.

The other half of the $8 million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture's Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) will fund conservation agreements with farmers to improve water quality in the Indian Mill Creek and Rogue River watersheds, both of which are Grand River tributaries.

The Lower Grand River Organization of Watersheds, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Kent Conservation District, Rogue River Watershed Partners, Trout Unlimited, local municipalities and schools plan to restore wetlands, reconnect floodplains, install buffer strips, and implement other erosion control practices to reduce waterway sedimentation.

The grant program is funded under the 2014 federal farm bill. Chapman said a 2013 project designation under the federal Urban Waters Federal Partnership helped open the door to the USDA grant.

Grand Rapids Mayor Rosalynn Bliss called the money a "tremendous step forward as we work together to restore the Grand River and transform it into an asset for not only downtown but the entire region."

The city has embraced the project and an appointed steering board, the Grand River Corridor Revitalization Committee, is exploring funding and structure for a long-term "recreational authority-like" organization, possibly with regional taxing power, to oversee the restored rapids.

The downtown river project hopes to move out of the pre-permitting phase later this year once the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service approves plans for relocating the endangered snuffbox mussel around the project area during rapids construction.

Discovery of the mussel, added to the federal endangered list in 2012, has slowed the river project and much of the $4 million conservation grant will be used to create appropriate habitat for the mussels and other aquatic species like the state-threatened lake sturgeon during construction.

Once the Sixth Street Dam is removed, lake sturgeon will have access to historic spawning grounds, said Chapman.

Before that can happen, the sea lamprey barrier must be constructed as a replacement to ensure the bloodsucking invasive fish that spawns in Great Lakes tributaries cannot migrate farther up the Grand River than downtown. Chapman said the wildlife service is now reviewing lamprey barrier designs.

Chapman estimated a three to four year construction timeline once state and federal permits are approved. Grand Rapids Whitewater has five years to use the federal conservation grant once the project begins construction.

Among other goals, the project aims to build 9,400 feet of whitewater rapids downtown, new riverside parks and 12 acres of limestone bedrock shoals.