The bid was a part of the council’s Covid-19 Recovery plan and if approved would go towards projects in collaboration with catchment groups, iwi, and community groups.
The Government announced in May it would invest $1.1billion in this year’s Budget to create 11,000 green jobs aimed at jump-starting a sustainable recovery from the pandemic.
ORC staff told councillors during its meeting last week a request had been submitted to the Ministry for the Environment for part of this funding.
Chief executive Sarah Gardner said the list of projects submitted included governance support for catchment groups across the region, fencing, riparian planting, wetland restoration, science, water testing, and indigenous plant regeneration.
Each project had the potential to generate a small number of jobs or upwards of 20 jobs, she said.
The ORC would also look at creating a project manager position to assist with the implementation and delivery of projects funded by any money received from the Government.
Funding for that position could be covered by the council’s existing budget, staff said in its Covid-19 Recovery report to last week’s council meeting.
But there was uncertainty over when and how the projects would go ahead, despite there being "a lot" of money and ideas being raised by many councils and agencies across the country, who were "eager" for a green economic response to go ahead, Mrs Gardner said.
Staff also wanted to ensure any money invested in the environment was able to provide sustainable, long-term benefits.
The ORC was still waiting to hear back from Ministry for the Environment on its request.
ORC chairwoman Marian Hobbs said there were many options for projects to support, but she was aware of one community group which would require "millions" in green jobs funding.
"Whatever we get is welcome but there is room for a lot more."
The funding could also be an opportunity for the council to move forward in areas which would have otherwise taken longer, Cr Hilary Calvert said.
"We have got a variety of things that we have got a little bit behind on in the Otago region."
She hoped the projects would help address the region’s water quality, believing the ORC required more understanding of the region’s water.
"It would be good to invest more in that ... we need the science. I would have thought some of that was also shovel-ready projects."
The ORC’s pandemic recovery plan also included the development of a formal partnership agreement with the Department of Conservation (Doc) and Queenstown Lakes District Council, called “In the Wild” Working Group.
It would focus on better co-ordination of nature-based projects, including predator control, trails, and wilding pine management.
The report said the ORC had agreed to contribute $70,000 to Doc for the pilot once the partnership agreement was signed.
