Background
In June 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill (HB) 2010 that, combined with other legislation, allocates $5 million to establish the Drinking Water Source Protection (DWSP) Grant Program at OWEB. Through the DWSP Grant Program, OWEB will provide grants to public water suppliers to protect, restore, or enhance sources of drinking water through land acquisition. The program focuses on water suppliers that serve rural communities and/or lower-income populations but is not limited to these communities.
Purpose
The DWSP Grant Program provides land acquisition grants to Water Suppliers to protect, restore, or enhance sources of drinking water through:
- The acquisition of lands from willing sellers;
- Entering into covenants, easements, or similar agreements with willing landowners; or
- Repaying a loan used to finance a project as described (a) or (b) above.
Program Overview
OWEB staff are currently developing program materials for a Fall 2024 program launch during which $5 million of grant funds will be available. The following high-level guidelines for the DWSP Grant Program can help potential applicants understand if this program may be a good fit.
Public water suppliers with service populations at or below 25,000 users, and also classified in one of the following public water system categories:
- Community Water Systems owned by a local government or non-profit water supplier
- Transient Non-Community Water Systems owned by a local government or non-profit water supplier
- Non-Transient Non-Community Water Systems owned by a local government or non-profit water supplier
- Oregon Very Small Water Systems owned by a local government or non-profit water supplier
- Tribal Public Water Systems
The following water systems are
not eligible for this program:
- Federal-owned water systems
- State-owned water systems
- Water systems operated for profit
- Lands for which acquisition will result in the protection, restoration, or enhancement for the benefit a drinking water source used by the Water Supplier
- Must be partially or fully within the water supplier’s Drinking Water Source Area
- Fee title acquisition of lands from willing sellers
- Entering into covenants, easements, or similar agreements with willing landowners
- Repaying a loan used to finance one of the above
A water supplier may form a partnership with an eligible holder other than a state agency (defined in ORS 271.715; for example, a land trust or soil and water conservation district) to carry out land acquisition.
$5,000,000 available within the program
$3,000,000 cap for individual grant requests
Required Match: 5% cash or in-kind match from non-OWEB sources
Tentative Grant Cycle Timeline*
September 2024 – Informational webinar to present program materials
October 2024 – Grant solicitation opens
December 2024 – Grant solicitation closes
April 2025 – Board approval of recommended projects / Grant agreements signed
*Please note this timeline is subject to change.
Contact
Please direct questions or comments to
Audrey Squires, Drinking Water Source Protection Specialist, 503-798-6337.
Stay informed about DWSP Grant Program updates by subscribing to the
OWEB GovDelivery.
Administrative Rules
The OWEB Board recently adopted Oregon's Administrative Rules for the DWSP Grant Program located on the Secretary of State website. The DWSP rules will provide potential applicants with a detailed understanding of the grant program. This
presentation, delivered to the OWEB Board on July 24, 2024, provides a summary of the DWSP administrative rules.
Information and materials from the rulemaking process can be found on OWEB’s
Administrative Rules webpage.