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Cities Invited to Complete Survey for the Drinking Water Source Protection Grant Program
The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) announced this week that $5 million in grant funds will be available within the Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP) Grant Program in 2024. Through this program, OWEB will provide grants to public water suppliers to protect, restore, or enhance drinking water sources through land acquisition. The program focuses on public water suppliers that serve rural communities and/or lower-income populations but is not limited to these communities.
OWEB would like to know more about source water protection efforts being undertaken by public water suppliers and the potential for those efforts to connect with the DWSP grant program. For example, is there potential that a city would apply to this new grant program or would partner with an eligible applicant to apply? If so, OWEB requests that cities complete this brief survey, which should not take more than 10 minutes. The survey will close on Thursday, June 27, at noon.
The high-level guidelines for OWEB's DWSP Grant Program are as follows:
Eligible Applicants:
- Public water suppliers with service populations at or below 25,000 users.
- The following water systems are not eligible for this program:
- Federally-owned water systems;
- State-owned water systems; and
- Water systems operated for profit.
Eligible Properties:
- Lands for which acquisition will result in the protection, restoration, or enhancement of for the benefit of a drinking water source used by the Water Supplier; and
- Must be partially or fully within a delineated Drinking Water Source Area.
Eligible Types of Acquisition:
- Fee title acquisition of lands from willing sellers;
- Entering into covenants, easements, or similar agreements with willing landowners; and
- Repaying a loan used to finance one of the above.
Partnerships:
- A public water supplier may partner with an eligible holder (defined in ORS 271.715; for example, a land trust) to acquire land.
Funding:
- $5,000,000 available within the program; and
- $3,000,000 cap for individual grant requests.
Match:
- 5% match required from non-OWEB sources.
Anticipated Grant Cycle Timeline:
- Informational webinar to present program materials – September 2024;
- Grant solicitation opens – October 2024;
- Grant solicitation closes – December 2024; and
- Board approval of recommended projects – April 2025.
Contact: Jim McCauley, Legislative Director – jmccauley@orcities.org
Last Updated 6/14/24
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