Department of Environmental Quality HomeSearchFeedbackContact UsAccess Idaho
skip nav
About Us
Public Info & Input
Air
Water
Waste
INL Oversight
Maps & Data
Rules & Regs


Sign up for email updates Sign up
for E-mail Updates

See Also

Construction Loans for
Public Water Systems

Guidance for Public Water Systems

Link to

Application Forms for Drinking Water Planning Grants

Outline and Checklist for Environmental Information Documents (Word)

Contact DEQ

Regional Office
Water Quality Managers

State Office

Water Quality Division

For questions related to priority list development or environmental information documents, contact:

Nancy Bowser

(208) 373-0406

For all other questions, contact:

Carol Garrison

(208) 373-0577

 


Drinking Water in Idaho:

Planning Grants for Public Water Systems

 

Link to:

Applicant's Guide to the

Drinking Water Planning Grant Program

DEQ Publication, January 2007: pdf 248 kb, 18 pages

Idaho's Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund and Planning Grant Program

DEQ Brochure, Updated May 2008: pdf 233 kb, 2 pages

Program Eligibility

Overview of the Grant Process
FY 2009 Grants Priority List & Recipients
 
 
DEQ's Drinking Water Planning Grant Program provides assistance to eligible public drinking water systems for facility planning projects designed to ensure safe and adequate supplies of drinking water. Grants awarded under this program are used to develop engineering reports identifying the most cost-effective, environmentally sound method of upgrading a public drinking water system to achieve and maintain compliance with state and federal standards. Grants cover up to 50% of eligible planning costs, with a matching share funded by local sources.

 Program Eligibility
Drinking water planning grants are available to community water systems (serve at least 15 service connections used by year-round residents or regularly serve at least 25 year-round residents) and non-profit, non-community public water systems (serve the public, but do not serve the same people year-round). These classifications include most systems owned by Idaho municipalities, special water districts, and associations.

Grants are not provided to systems without the financial capability to pay the non-grant share of a planning project or to those that are delinquent in payment of the annual state drinking water fee assessment.
 
 Overview of the Grant Process

Once each year, DEQ contacts eligible systems to solicit interest in applying for a planning grant. Responses submitted as a Letter of Interest are evaluated, rated, and ranked by DEQ for inclusion on the next annual Priority List. Rating criteria focus on potential public health risks and the status of the system's compliance with state and federal regulations. Highest rankings are given to projects that DEQ has determined will most improve the waters of the state and best protect public health. The highest rated projects for which funding exists are invited to submit grant applications.

The number of grants offered each year is limited to available funding. Systems selected to receive grants are required to hire a professional engineer to survey the existing condition of the system, develop and screen alternatives to enable the system to meet future needs, select a recommended alternative, and evaluate the potential environmental impacts. An environmental information document is required for all grant recipients, and the recipient may be required to develop and implement mitigation measures as the drinking water project moves into design and construction.
 
 FY 2009 Grant Priority List and Recipients

Each year the Department prepares a priority list defining how it intends to allocate $250,000 in resources for drinking water facilities planning. The FY 09 priority list was reviewed and adopted by the Board of Environment Quality in April 2008.

View Priority List for Drinking Water Planning Grants for FY 2009
(DEQ Publication, April 2008: pdf 13 kb, 3 pages).

To date in FY 09, one drinking water planning grant has been awarded to:


  Home | Search | Contact Us |Feedback | About PDF Files | Acronyms | Glossary | State of Idaho | Privacy Notice  
  Copyright © 2000-2008, Idaho Department of Environmental Quality. All rights reserved.