Water Sector Funding Programs
This tab includes federal funding sources that have been used to support adaptation in the water sector and examples of how state and local governments are funding and financing water adaptation. This is not intended to be a list of available grants for adaptation.
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September 23, 2021
On September 23, 2021, California signed a $15-billion climate-investment package that includes 24 bills dedicated to tackling the climate crisis and protecting frontline communities in California. The bills address clean energy, wildfires, droughts, community climate resilience, sustainable agriculture, extreme heat, and sea-level rise, among other topics. As Governor Gavin Newsom explained, the bills aim to address “the climate crisis head-on while protecting the hardest-hit communities” in California.
Related Organizations: State of California
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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July 6, 2021
On July 6, 2021, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Public Law 21–115: An Act Concerning Climate Change Adaptation to increase local resilience planning options, legal authorities, and financing for adaptation and resilience projects. The main components of this law authorize the creation of municipal stormwater authorities, and increase the authority of municipal flood prevention and climate resilience boards and their ability to collect and raise funds for climate resilience projects. In addition, the law expands the scope of the state’s "green bank," the Connecticut Green Bank , beyond clean energy to adaptation- and resilience-related projects, with an emphasis on prioritizing financing for frontline communities.
Related Organizations: State of Connecticut
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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September 2020
Launched by the American Flood Coalition, the Flood Funding Finder (FFF) helps small communities identify federal programs that fund flood resilience efforts including flood mitigation and risk reduction projects, planning efforts, and more. To create the FFF, the Coalition analyzed hundreds of funding programs across 26 federal agencies to identify the programs most likely to assist small community efforts related to flooding and sea-level rise.
Related Organizations: American Flood Coalition
Resource Category: Funding
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2020
In recent years, Seattle Public Utilities (SPU), which is the city’s water utility and provides drinking water and wastewater treatment, has strongly emphasized community engagement and equity issues through the creation of a variety of organizations and programs. One organization, Connect Capital, which is comprised of SPU staff and members of a community foundation and a community organization, advises SPU on how to ensure that the benefits of future investments are equitable and address climate threats to those at risk of displacement. One result of Connect Capital’s encouragement is SPU’s investment in infrastructure in frontline communities, such as the South Park Neighborhood. Another equitable initiative under SPU is the Utility Discount Program, under which seniors, persons with disabilities, and low-income customers receive a reduction in their water and electricity bills. Households with incomes at or below 70% of state median income pay only 50% of their SPU bill. Further still, SPU’s Environmental Justice and Service Equity Division aims to promote inclusive community engagement and collaboration.
Related Organizations: Seattle Public Utilities
Resource Category: Solutions
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The U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) offers an Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program to provide both technical and financial assistance to help local communities and individual landowners recover from disaster events that impair a watershed. The EWP Program provides two assistance program options for Recovery and Floodplain Easements. All EWP Program funding is provided to NRCS through Congressional appropriations. EWP Program funding offers the benefit of providing potentially faster and greater geographic coverage support for disaster-impacted communities because while a disaster event is required for eligibility, a presidential disaster declaration is not.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Resource Category: Funding
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February 2020
In February 2020, the Environmental and Energy Study Initiative released the Federal Resources for Nature-Based Solutions to Climate Change fact sheet, which outlines programs that support nature-based solutions to increase human, ecosystem, and infrastructure resilience to the impacts of climate change. The fact sheet surveys a list of 13 different federal funding and technical assistance programs available to aid in implementing nature-based projects, including those that support: green infrastructure; natural infrastructure; urban focus; habitat restoration; flood prevention; water quality; pollution abatement; and disaster mitigation.
Related Organizations: Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI)
Authors or Affiliated Users: Savannah Bertrand, Katie Schneer
Resource Category: Funding
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The Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project (SERCAP) was established through funding from the U.S. Government’s Office of Economic Opportunity in the 1960s. The Project helps low-income rural communities in the mid-Atlantic and the Southeastern U.S. obtain water and wastewater infrastructure for running water, indoor plumbing, and wastewater treatment. Water utilities in these rural areas often lack funding to provide such infrastructure. Households that are not supplied with drinking water tend to rely on wells and septic tanks, which can get contaminated by pollution from agricultural activity and the lack of suitable wastewater treatment. SERCAP assists both individuals and municipalities, and its services include installing infrastructure, providing financing and loans, and offering technical support. In addition to providing services related to water, SERCAP also provides support on housing issues.
Resource Category: Organizations
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November 2019
In 2019, the State of Texas established the Texas Flood Infrastructure Fund (TFIF), which provides financial support to communities for drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control projects. Administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB), the TFIF fund provides financial assistance to political subdivisions (cities, counties, or state-established districts or authorities) in the form of grants and zero-interest loans. The funding can be used to support planning, design, construction, and rehabilitation of flood projects, whether structural or non-structural (including nature-based).
Related Organizations: Texas Water Development Board
Resource Category: Funding
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March 1, 2018
The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Better Together Resilient Communities grant program funds initiatives to help California communities better prepare for, withstand, and recover from extreme weather events and other risks related to climate change. PG&E is investing $2 million over five years in shareholder-funded grants. In 2018, PG&E focused on projects to help communities prepare for increased frequency and severity of extreme heat events, and the 2019 Resilient Communities grant program focused on wildfire risk.
Related Organizations: Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)
Resource Category: Funding
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June 13, 2019
In June 2019, the State of Texas established the Texas Infrastructure Resiliency Fund (TIRF), a new special fund in the state treasury for the purpose of financing flood mitigation and protection projects and related planning efforts. The TIRF is administered by the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) and includes four separate accounts: a Federal Matching Account, a Floodplain Management Account, a Flood Implementation Account, and a Hurricane Harvey Account.
Related Organizations: Texas Water Development Board
Resource Category: Funding
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