Drinking Water Source Protection Grant Program Informational Webinar 

The Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) will be hosting an informational Zoom webinar about the new Drinking Water Source Protection Grant Program in advance of opening the grant offering. The webinar will be hosted on Thursday, October 10, 2024 at 10:30 am.

Program Overview
In June 2023, the Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 2010 which, combined with other legislation, provided $5 million to establish the Drinking Water Source Protection Grant Program at OWEB. Through this grant program, OWEB will award grants to public water suppliers to protect, restore, or enhance sources of drinking water through land conservation.

Eligible project types include:

• The acquisition of lands from willing sellers;
• Entering into covenants, easements, or similar agreements with willing landowners; or
• Repaying a loan used to finance a project as described in the above bullet points.

Public water suppliers are the only eligible applicants, but they can form a partnership with an eligible Holder other than a state agency (“Holder” is defined in ORS 271.715; for example, a land trust or soil and water conservation district) to carry out the project. The program focuses on water suppliers that serve rural communities and/or lower-income populations but is not limited to these communities. To be eligible, water suppliers must have service populations at or below 25,000 users.

Detailed application guidance will be posted on the program’s website by Friday, October 4, 2024. Program direction is provided by ORS 448.370-448.380 and Oregon Administrative Rules Chapter 695, Division 48.

Webinar Registration
Please register in advance for the informational webinar at this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_cQ3-Exa8RtOWVpB9oA94lw#/registration.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

During the webinar, OWEB staff will review the Drinking Water Source Protection Grant Program eligibility requirements, program guidance, application process, and timelines. Participants are welcome to ask questions of OWEB staff during the webinar.

For those unable to attend, the webinar will be recorded and posted to OWEB’s YouTube channel.

Upcoming Grant Offering
The Drinking Water Source Protection grant offering will open on Monday, October 21, 2024 and close on Thursday, December 12, 2024 at 5 pm. Another announcement will be sent out when the grant offering opens.

Staff Contact
If you have questions, please contact Audrey Squires at audrey.l.squires@oweb.oregon.gov.

Please visit our website for more information about this and other grant offerings: https://www.oregon.gov/OWEB/Pages/index.aspx

Thank you for your interest in watershed restoration and protection!