Available Funding
Water System Infrastructure Projects
The water system infrastructure loan program funds planning, design and construction of drinking water infrastructure improvements, including repair or replacement of existing infrastructure.
Sustainable Infrastructure Planning Projects
The sustainable infrastructure planning program funds water system planning and related activities that promote sustainable water infrastructure.
Drinking Water Source Protection Projects
The drinking water source protection fund provides loan and grant funds for eligible drinking water source protection projects.
Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (WIFIA)
In addition to the SRF funding available from this state’s partnership with EPA, EPA also has a new water infrastructure financing program called WIFIA. WIFIA loans can fund similar project eligibilities as the DWSRF and CWSRF programs, but can reach a broader spectrum of borrowers, as well as fund significantly larger projects.
Eligible Water Systems
The following types of drinking water systems are eligible to apply for funding:
- Publicly and privately owned community systems (e.g., cities, towns, mobile home parks, ports) and
- Publicly and privately owned non-profit non-community systems (e.g., schools, parks, campgrounds, churches).
In addition, a system must be in compliance with drinking water standards or the proposed project must help the system resolve their compliance issues.
For more information regarding eligibility, see 
System Type, Eligibility, and Frequently Asked Questions.
Background
Each federal fiscal year, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses a federal grant application process to make funds available to states for the DWSRF. Oregon's grant request process begins by identifying and collecting information about current Oregon drinking water system project improvement needs statewide.
The 2015 Drinking Water Infrastructure Needs Survey and Assessment (DWNS) illustrates these detailed needs from national and individual state perspectives. You can find the DWNS report here.
To apply for funding, drinking water systems submit information about their proposed drinking water projects in a Letter of Interest (LOI). The LOI is used to gather detailed information about proposed drinking water projects and collects information about the water supply, water quality problem(s), water system's finances and readiness-to-proceed, and project solution and estimated cost.
The state reviews and prioritizes the requests, creating a Project Priority List (PPL). The PPL is included in the State's Intended Use Plan (IUP), which is provided each year to EPA for approval. The IUP demonstrates how Oregon intends to use its appropriated grant for that year. Once EPA has reviewed and approved the IUP, the federal funds may then begin to be released.