Office of Sustainable Water Solutions
The Office of Sustainable Water Solutions (Office) was established on March 27, 2015 as a result of the Governor signing Assembly Bill 92. The Office is part of the State Water Resources Control Board’s (State Water Board), Division of Financial Assistance (DFA).
The Office was created to promote permanent and sustainable drinking water and wastewater treatment solutions to ensure effective and efficient provision of safe, clean, affordable, and reliable drinking water and wastewater treatment services. The Office is focused on addressing financial and technical assistance needs, particularly for small disadvantaged communities through the Small Community Funding Program.
For more information on SAFER, visit the Safe and Affordable Fund for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) website.
- NEW! Final FY 2023-24 Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund
- Fact Sheet - Drinking Water Grants
- Fact Sheet - Wastewater Grants
- Compilation of DFA Drinking Water Assistance since July 2019
- Compilation of DFA Wastewater Assistance since July 2019
- Drinking Water Infrastructure Appropriation Fact Sheet (Budget Act 2021)
- Wastewater Infrastructure Appropriation Fact Sheet (Budget Act 2021)
- Senate Bill 974 Fact Sheet
- Policy to Implement SAFER Drinking Water Program Puts Emphasis on Viable Solutions for Vulnerable Communities
- Small Community Funding Program, Pre-Application
- CWSRF Application Status Report
- DWSRF Application Status Report
Small Community Funding is available to assist small disadvantaged communities (small DACs) and small severely disadvantaged communities (small SDACs) implement eligible drinking water and wastewater projects. Funding is implemented through the Small Community Funding Program, the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Fund Programs, the Emergency Drinking Water and Cleanup or Abatement Programs and the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Program utilizing federal and state funds including Proposition 1 and Proposition 68.
- Small Community Drinking Water Funding
The Small Community Drinking Water (SCDW) Funding Program provides low-interest loans and other financing mechanisms, such as grants or principal forgiveness using federal and state funds, for the planning/design and construction of drinking water infrastructure projects that are needed to achieve or maintain compliance with federal and state drinking water statutes and regulations. The SCDW Funding Program utilizes the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) Policies and guidelines to administer the program. Eligible planning/design and construction drinking water projects include treatment systems, distribution systems, interconnections, consolidations, pipeline extensions, water sources, and water meters. The SCDW Funding Program is continually accepting applications.- SCDW Eligibility and Financing Terms
- Drinking Water Grant Fact Sheet - Amended 2021-22 DWSRF IUP
- SCDW Brochure (coming soon)
- SCDW Frequently Asked Questions (coming soon)
- SCDW Application Process
- Small Community Clean Water/Wastewater Funding
The Small Community Wastewater (SCWW) Funding Program provides low-interest loans and other financing mechanisms, such as grants or principal forgiveness using federal and state funds, for water quality improvement projects. The SCWW Funding Program utilizes the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) Policies and guidelines to administer the program. Eligible planning/design and construction of publicly-owned facilities including wastewater treatment plants, sewer collectors and interceptors, combined sewers, septic to sewer conversions, storm water reduction and treatment, and water reclamation facilities. The SCWW Funding Program is continually accepting applications.- SCWW Eligibility and Financing Terms
- Wastewater Grant Fact Sheet – Amended 2021-22 CWSRF IUP
- SCWW Brochure (coming soon)
- SCWW Frequently Asked Questions (coming soon)
- SCWW Application Process
- Small Community Emergency Grant (SCEG) funds
For information regarding the Emergency Drinking Water and Cleanup or Abatement Programs, please visit the following pages:- CAA Cleanup or Abatement Projects
- CAA Urgent Drinking Water Need Projects
- Drinking Water for Schools Grant Program
- Drinking Water Well Replacement Program
- Cleanup and Abatement Account Funding Program Guidelines (coming soon)
- Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience Program
The Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience (SAFER) Funding Program provides a set of tools, funding sources, and regulatory authorities designed to ensure that one million Californians who currently lack safe drinking water receive safe & affordable drinking water as quickly as possible. The Fund will provide $130 million per year that will be used to develop and implement sustainable solutions for small systems with violations of drinking water standards. The money may be spent on operations and maintenance costs, cost of consolidating with larger system, provision of replacement water, and funding for administrators to run the small systems.
Technical Assistance (TA) is available to help small (less than 10,000 people) disadvantaged (median household income [MHI] 80% statewide MHI) communities (small DACs) develop, fund, and implement eligible drinking water*, wastewater*, stormwater**, or groundwater needs. TA include but is not limited to coordination and development of capital improvement projects, facilitation of operation and maintenance, engineering and environmental analysis, legal assistance, leak detection/water audits, compliance audits, financial analysis, technical managerial and financial (TMF) assessments, and board or operator training.
For all TA requests, complete this TA Request Form and email it to DFA-TArequest@waterboards.ca.gov.
For questions regarding technical assistance, please contact:
-
Zoe Wu
Senior Water Resource Control Engineer
Office of Sustainable Water Solutions
Division of Financial Assistance
Zoe.Wu@waterboards.ca.gov
- James Garrett
Senior Water Resource Control Engineer
Office of Sustainable Water Solutions
Division of Financial Assistance
(916) 445-4218
James.Garrett@waterboards.ca.gov
- Applications for the funding programs are accepted electronically through the Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST). The FAAST website contains how-to videos to help users create an account and start and submit a funding application. If you need assistance using FAAST, you can call or email the FAAST Help Desk, which is staffed Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm, at 1-866-434-1083 or FAAST_ADMIN@waterboards.ca.gov.
- For drinking water and clean water/wastewater funding of planning/design or construction projects, please visit the following page:
- For technical assistance, please visit the following page:
- For urgent drinking water needs, please visit the following page:
- Final Policy for Developing the Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund updated to add Appendix A. Median Household Income Determination Guidelines.
- FY 2020-21 Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund
- Policy for Implementing the Clean Water State Revolving Fund
- Policy for Implementing the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund
- Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds Debt Management Policy
- CW/DW Capacity Development Strategy
- DWSRF Annual Reports and Audits
- DWSRF Intended Use Plan
- DWSRF Policy
- CWSRF Policy
- Small Community Wastewater Strategy
- CWSRF Annual Reports and Audits
- CWSRF Intended Use Plan
- California Financing Coordinating Committee (CFCC)
- Division of Drinking Water
- Human Right to Water Portal
- Engineering Firm Selection Process
- Guidelines for Consolidation Projects
- Mobile Application Project Status Report for public access (AppSTAT)
- Legal Opinion Template for Non-Repayable Funding Agreements
- Exhibit C – General Terms & Conditions
Additional links and guidance documents can be found in the DWSRF and the CWSRF webpages.
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Contacts
- General Inquiries
Telephone: (916) 327-9978
Fax: (916) 341-5296 - Office of Sustainable Water Solutions
Email: DFA-OSWS@waterboards.ca.gov - Other Contact Information