In May, the California State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) published final Guidelines (Guidelines) for the administration of its Groundwater Sustainability Grant Program (Program) under Proposition 1. The Program makes available approximately $774 million in grants to fund projects designed to prevent or cleanup the contamination of groundwater that serves or has served as a source of drinking water. The Guidelines provide for three categories of projects eligible for funding: planning and monitoring projects, implementation projects, and drinking water treatment projects. The Division of Financial Assistance intends to hold two solicitations for projects each year until all funding has been distributed. The first solicitation will occur approximately one month after the SWRCB adopts these Guidelines.

Funding is available for three categories of projects: 1) planning and monitoring projects, 2) implementation projects, and 3) drinking water treatment projects.

The Guidelines identify several priorities the SWRCB will consider in evaluating proposals: 1) leveraging of funds, 2) use of new and innovative technology, and 3) Chapter 10 prioritization criteria.

All projects must meet several requirements to be eligible for funding. At its core, a project “must cleanup or prevent the contamination of groundwater that serves or has served as a source of drinking water” and have a useful life of at least 20 years.
(Miles Krieger, Steven Anderson) [June 23, 2016]