Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Program

A federal-state partnership providing financial support to public water systems and state drinking water programs since 1997.

On this page:

• About the Program
• Types of Assistance
• How This Program Helps Build Resilience
• Connections to Other EPA, Federal, or Non-Governmental Efforts

About the Program

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) provides financial assistance to publicly owned and privately owned community water systems and nonprofit, non-community water systems for drinking water infrastructure projects. Projects must either facilitate the water system’s compliance with national primary drinking water regulations or significantly further the health protection objectives of the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). The 50 states and Puerto Rico all operate their own DWSRF programs.

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocated $11.7 billion to the DWSRF in addition to regular annual appropriations; this funding will help increase climate resilience. EPA’s March 2022 memorandum “Implementation of the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Fund Provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (pdf)” encourages states to use the significant increase in SRF funding for infrastructure projects that make water systems more resilient to all threats – including climate change. The memo addresses climate adaptation, encouraging states to “support water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure projects that apply the best available and most geographically relevant climate information, projections, and standards, such as the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard.” According to the memo, “states should consider how to incorporate climate resilience criteria into their prioritization of SRF funding under the BIL.”

Types of Assistance

The DWSRF program provides the following types of assistance:

Financial Assistance

State DWSRF programs provide low-interest loans and other forms of financial assistance to public water systems for the improvement of drinking water infrastructure.

Technical Assistance

States can use DWSRF set-asides to hire “third-party” technical providers for water systems that need technical assistance.

Outreach and Education Assistance

States can use set-asides to provide technical assistance and trainings for public water systems on a variety of topics, including water system resilience.

How This Program Helps Build Resilience

There are several ways that DWSRF funding can be used to address risks to drinking water systems or build system resilience.

• The DWSRF can fund capital infrastructure projects undertaken to incorporate new technologies and/or upgrade infrastructure to enhance resilience.
• DWSRF assistance, either through the loan fund or the set-asides, can fund adaptation and mitigation planning to address extreme weather events such as droughts, floods, earthquakes, landslides, tornadoes, and forest fires.
• The DWSRF set-asides may be used to assist public water systems with developing assessments and emergency response plans, including the new requirements (pdf) under the America’s Water Infrastructure Act.
• States can use set-asides to provide technical assistance and trainings for public water systems to bolster their resilience.
• More information specific to resilience can be found in the “Addressing Water System Resiliency with the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (pdf)” fact sheet, DWSRF eligibilities (pdf) related to drought and water reuse (pdf). General DWSRF eligibility information can be found in the DWSRF Eligibility Handbook (pdf).

The DWSRF program has provided assistance for several resilience projects, including pre- and post-natural-disaster activities. Here are recent examples:

• The Big Bend Water District in Nevada installed a well, located adjacent to the Colorado River, on property that currently houses its river intake pumping system. This well was built to employ riverbank filtration, a natural process that removes various contaminants as the river water is naturally filtered by the geologic material and recharges groundwater. Extreme weather events have caused variable water quality in the Colorado River in recent years. This has caused the district to issue a boil water notice in the past. Riverbank filtration will provide long-term resilience for the Big Bend Water System by avoiding potential future water quality crises. This $500,000 project will serve approximately 9,000 people.
• The City of Gold Hill, Oregon, used $20,000 from the DWSRF to hire a professional engineering firm to complete a seismic risk assessment and mitigation plan. This plan included the identification of critical water supply locations and infrastructure, identification of potential seismic geohazards, preliminary assessment of facility risk, evaluation of pipeline fragility, preparation of seismic resilience-evaluation report section, and preparation of recommended capital improvement plan projects and/or operational changes.
• The 100-year-old drinking water treatment plant in the City of Jacksonville, Illinois, was severely flooded in 2011 after more than 10 inches of rain fell on the city. The $700,000 in damages took 10 days to clean up. To avoid future risks and damages, the city decided to relocate the plant out of the floodplain. A new water treatment plant, with a capacity of 9.0 million gallons per day, was constructed with the assistance of a $33.6 million loan from the DWSRF program. In addition, the city received $3 million in loan forgiveness.
• The Water Authority of Great Neck North (WAGNN) received Storm Mitigation Loan Program (SMLP) funding for a project to upgrade wellheads, install replacement wells, and install backup generators in Great Neck, New York, which had been impacted by two hurricanes (Irene and Sandy) that caused flooding and prolonged power outages. Implementing these storm mitigation improvements will protect water supply wells and minimize the risk of well damage or disruption of services. The total project cost estimate was $15,450,000. The DWSRF SMLP grant will be an amount equal to 25% of the total project cost (less WAGNN contribution) up to a maximum of $3,759,500. The SMLP interest-free loan will be $11,278,500. WAGNN’s contribution is $412,000.
• The Brant Beach Water Treatment Plant located in Long Beach Township, New Jersey, was severely damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The Plant’s water quality and capacity were impacted by flood water, which shut down the Plant’s pumps and the electrical components necessary to operate the system. This project brought the pump station into compliance with FEMA Flood Zone Regulations and the SDWA. The installation of new equipment generates a more efficient conveyance system, protects the facility against flooding and sustained power loss, and improves resilience for residents in the case of future storms. The DWSRF funded $1,248,067 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Water and Waste Disposal Loan and Grant Program contributed $500,000.

Connections to Other EPA, Federal, or Non-Governmental Efforts

Co-funding is another way to expand the DWSRF program’s reach and benefits. Approximately one-quarter of the 2019 DWSRF projects were co-funded with another source, including funds from U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Utilities Service Water and Environmental Programs, the EPA’s Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA) program, and other state and private sources. To explore other federal sources of funding that can supplement DWSRF projects, see the EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center (WIRFC).