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Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG) - FY 2025

Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture
Office: Rural Development (RD)
Multipart Grant: No
Next Due: Rolling
Solicitation Date: Rolling
   
Match Required: Recommended
Match Type: Unspecified
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to help rural communities prepare for or recover from an emergency that threatens the availability of safe, reliable drinking water. Eligible projects may take place in communities that have experienced a significant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water due to an emergency, or in which such decline is considered imminent. This program is intended to maintain the standards prescribed by the Safe Drinking Water Act.

Qualifying emergencies may include droughts; floods; earthquakes; tornadoes; hurricanes; disease outbreaks; chemical spills, leaks, or seepage; and other disasters. A federal disaster declaration is not required.

Eligible project types include:

  • Water transmission line projects to construct waterline extensions, repair breaks or leaks in existing water distribution lines, and address related maintenance necessary to replenish the water supply
  • Water source projects to construct new wells, reservoirs, transmission lines, treatment plants, and/or other sources of water, including treatment plants

Eligible activities include:

  • Waterline extensions from existing systems
  • Construction of new waterlines
  • Repairs to an existing system
  • Significant maintenance to an existing system
  • Construction of new wells, reservoirs, transmission lines, treatment plants, and other sources of water
  • Equipment replacement
  • Connection and/or tap fees
  • Costs incurred within six months of the date of the application to correct an emergency situation that would have otherwise been eligible for funding
  • Other appropriate purposes, such as a legal fees; engineering fees; recording costs; environmental impact analyses; archaeological surveys; possible salvage or other mitigation measures; and planning, establishing, or acquiring rights associated with developing sources of, treating, storing, or distributing water
  • Costs of complying with applicable regulations
  • Providing potable water to communities through means other than those covered above, but for a period of no longer than 120 days, when a more permanent solution is not feasible in a shorter time frame
Program Office Notes:

The program officer confirmed that applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The program officer stated that the program information, attached as the FactSheet file, is up to date for FY 2025.

Eligibility Notes:

Eligible applicants are:

  • Most state and local government entities, including rurally located public bodies
  • Nonprofit organizations
  • Federally recognized tribes

Projects must serve rural areas and towns with a population of 10,000 or less, tribal lands in rural areas, or colonias. Eligible rural addresses can be found online at eligibility.sc.egov.usda.gov. In addition, the project area must have a median household income no greater than the state's non-metropolitan median household income.

Priority consideration will be given to smaller rural communities and communities with a lower percentage of the state's median household income, as detailed on page 3 of the Guide file.

All applicants must demonstrate that a major decline in the quantity or quality of water has occurred within two years of the date of the application, or a significant decline in quality and quantity of water is imminent. Qualifying emergencies may include droughts; floods; earthquakes; tornadoes; hurricanes; disease outbreaks; chemical spills, leaks, or seepage; and other disasters. A federal disaster declaration is not required.

Eligible Applicants:
Local Government
Native American Tribe
Non Profits
State Government
Application Notes:

Prior to submitting an application, applicants must contact the appropriate state contact listed online at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The program officer confirmed that applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Applications must be submitted online at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services, or to the appropriate Rural Development (RD) state office. A list of RD state offices can be found online at www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd.

Applications must include:

  • Preliminary engineering report
  • Population and median household income of the area to be served
  • Description of project
  • Nature of the emergency

The full contents of the application will become available upon initiation of the application process.

The following are required in order to submit an application:

  • Unique Entity Identifier (UEI) number
  • SAM (System for Award Management) registration
  • SPOC (state Single Point of Contact) notification

Applicants may obtain a UEI number and verify or renew SAM registration status at www.ecivis.com/sam. Applicants in states participating in the SPOC program must contact the relevant SPOC listed in the SPOC file before applying.

Applications will be evaluated according to the following criteria:

  • Population (30 points)
  • Income (30 points)
  • Significant decline (30 points)
  • Imminent decline (10 points)
  • Acute shortage (10 points)
  • Discretionary criteria (30 points)

Refer to the NOFA and Guide files for additional application information.

Match Required: Recommended
Match Type: Unspecified
Actual Funds: Unspecified
Match Notes:

There are no stated matching requirements for this program; however, partnerships with other federal, state, local, private, and nonprofit entities are encouraged.

Funding Notes:

An unspecified amount of funding is available to support awards through this program, as follows:

  • Awards of up to $150,000 for water transmission line projects to construct waterline extensions, repair breaks or leaks in existing water distribution lines, and address related maintenance necessary to replenish that water supply
  • Awards of up to $1 million for water source projects for the construction of new wells, reservoirs, transmission lines, treatment plants, and/or other sources of water, including treatment plants

At least 70 percent of all awards will be for projects that alleviate a significant decline in quantity or quality of water available to a rural area that occurred within two years, or to attempt to avoid a significant decline that is expected to occur during the next 12 months; such awards may be for up to $500,000.

At least 50 percent of all funds will be allocated to rural areas with populations of fewer than 3,000.

Pre-award costs that were incurred within six months of application submission to correct an emergency situation that would have been otherwise eligible for funding may be allowable.

Funds may not be used for:

  • Facilities that are not modest in size, design, or cost, and are not directly related to correcting the potable water quantity or quality problem
  • Loan or grant finder's fees
  • Annual recurring costs that are considered operational expenses
  • Rental for the use of equipment or machinery owned by the rural community
  • Purchasing existing systems
  • Refinancing existing indebtedness, excluding short-term debt incurred in accordance with Section 1778.9(h)
  • Reimbursement for projects developed with other award funds
  • Financing facilities that are not for public use
Contacts:

(See Contact Notes)

Agency Address
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Rural Development
1400 Independence Ave., SW
Room 5014, STOP 0701
Washington, D.C. 20250-0701

Contact Notes:

Questions should be directed to the appropriate state contact listed online at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services.

Applications must be submitted online at www.rd.usda.gov/programs-services, or to the appropriate Rural Development (RD) state office. A list of RD state offices can be found online at www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd.

The agency address provided is for reference purposes only.

Files:
NOFA File: US0483_NOFA_FY2025.pdf (137.3 Kb)
Other Pre-Award File: US0483_FactSheet_FY2025.pdf (51.2 Kb)
Award File: US0483_Award_FY2025.pdf (1.2 Mb)
Other Pre-Award File: US0483_ProgramRule_FY2025.pdf (266.0 Kb)
Federal Forms:
SPOC (67.7 Kb)
File Notes:

The NOFA file contains general program information and application guidelines. The FactSheet file contains general program information, including additional information regarding applicant eligibility. The ProgramRule file contains portions of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) that govern this program. The Award file contains information on previous award recipients. The SPOC file contains information on the state Single Point of Contact program.

The program officer stated that the program information, attached as the FactSheet file, is up to date for FY 2025.

Project: 2014 Water Supply Restoration Project (767.0 Kb)
Applicant: Alpaugh Community Services District
Summary:

The purpose of this program is to assist rural communities that have experienced a significant decline in quantity or quality of drinking water due to an emergency, or in which such decline is considered imminent. The Alpaugh Community Services District requested and received $250,000 to fund the 2014 Water Supply Restoration Project, which aims to lower an existing well and install a larger pump to provide water to the community.

 
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Grant Categories
Community Development
Disaster Preparedness
Environment/Natural Resources
Rural Issues
Water Supply/Quality