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Technical Assistance Funding Program

The Office of Sustainable Water Solutions (OSWS) administers the Technical Assistance (TA) Funding Program. TA is available to help small1 disadvantaged2 communities (DACs) develop, fund, and implement eligible drinking water3, wastewater3, stormwater4, or groundwater5 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. Notes:
1 Small community is defined as having a population less than 10,000 people.
2 Disadvantaged community is defined as median household income (MHI) < 80% of the statewide MHI.
3 Demand for drinking water/wastewater TA is extremely high. Not all eligible requests can be accommodated through the TA Funding Program. Requests relating to one or more of the following will generally be given priority:

  • Systems that are out of compliance or experiencing insufficient water delivery capabilities; Extension of service for drought/contamination impacted communities;
  • Consolidation projects;
  • Systems serving less than 200 connections; and
  • Applicants with small or relatively low cost needs that will enable an otherwise complete funding application to move forward.

4Stormwater TA resources are limited. We are not currently accepting new communities for stormwater TA. However, you may still submit a request if interested, and we will keep your request on file for future consideration as resources allow.
5Exceptions to provide TA that benefits larger DACs may be considered on a case‐by‐case basis

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Drinking Water State Revolving Fund logo

Clean Water State Revolving Fund logo

Funding Sources

Proposition 1 or the Water Quality, Supply, and Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014 (Assembly Bill 1471, Rendon) authorized $7.545 billion in general obligation bonds for water projects including surface and groundwater storage, ecosystem and watershed protection and restoration, and drinking water protection. Proposition 1 requires the State Water Board to operate a multidisciplinary TA program for small DACs and is one of the TA program funding sources.

The Safe and Affordable Funding for Equity and Resilience Program (SAFER) is 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 SAFER program also aims to reach sustainable operations for all of the state’s drinking water systems and is a critical element for achieving the goals of safe, accessible, and affordable water for all Californians.

The program was established from the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water (SADW) Fund through Senate Bill 200 (SB200) in 2019. 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.

Resources

Approved TA Requests

The Division of Financial Assistance has approved the following TA requests as of June 18, 2024:

Drinking Water TA Provider RFQ Guidelines

The TA Funding Program is not currently accepting Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) for the Drinking Water TA Provider Pool.

The Division of Financial Assistance previously updated the Amended Policy for Developing the Fund Expenditure Plan for the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, with the addition of Appendix C, to solicit Statements of Qualifications (SOQs) from interested parties to be considered for inclusion in the eligible Drinking Water TA Provider Pool.

The State Water Board held a webinar on March 23, 2022, to provide information to entities interested in being included in the pool of qualified drinking water TA Providers. The webinar provided an overview of the TA funding program, provided information on how to complete and submit an SOQ, reviewed the funding process, and answered questions.

Requests for TA are accepted on a continuous basis. To request TA:

Templates

Resources

Training

Past Solicitation Process for Proposition 1

The State Water Board's Proposition 1 TA Funding Plan, adopted on November 4, 2015, outlines the general process to administer Proposition 1 TA funds. The OSWS implemented a two-step (Concept Proposal and Full Proposal) continuous solicitation process via the Financial Assistance Application Submittal Tool (FAAST), which closed on June 30, 2016. Eligible recipients include 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations and public universities. Selected TA providers help with a variety of TA needs. 

For general questions regarding Technical Assistance, please contact:  DFA-TARequest@waterboards.ca.gov.