The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) announces the availability of funding to support the implementation of Source Water Protection (SWP) plans
Donor Name: Minnesota Department of Health (MDH)
State: Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/18/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
Source water protection activities are funded by Clean Water Fund appropriations approved by the Legislature. MDH uses these funds, in part, to establish a Source Water Protection Implementation Grant program. This program is administered through the Drinking Water Protection section.
The fundamental goals of source water protection are to prevent contamination from entering sources of public drinking water at levels that present a risk to people; and to provide long term, sustainable management of drinking water sources. Source water protection applies to all types of public water systems and is based on requirements in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and authorities granted to MDH by the state legislature.
In Minnesota, source water protection is divided into 1) wellhead protection that focuses on groundwater that is used as a source of drinking water and 2) intake protection that focuses on surface water that is used as a source of drinking water.
Funding Information
The total amount of funding that is available under this notice is $410,000. The minimum amount for any grant is $1,000 and the maximum amount is $15,000. However, when more than one qualifying community or nontransient noncommunity PWSs apply under the same grant request, the cap amount will be increased by as much as $15,000 for each additional PWS up to a maximum grant amount of $45,000.
Project Period
All grant funds awarded under this FY 2026 Source Water Protection Plan Implementation Fall RFP, must be expended by February 26th, 2027.
Eligibility Criteria
A source water protection Plan Implementation grant is intended to support implementation of the drinking water protection measures that are contained in a source water protection plan. Applicants shall look at their source water protection plan; i.e., wellhead protection plans, action plans, and surface water intake protection plans, and refer on the application form to the measure(s) in the plan that will be supported by the grant. Only PWSs may apply for a source water protection plan implementation grant but may use funding to support the work of other parties relating to the source water protection plan.
A PWS must meet all the following conditions to qualify for a grant:
- Be a community or non-community, non-transient PWS.
- The PWS must have a current source water protection plan or extension to the plan.
- The PWS is not subject to administrative penalty action from MDH regarding the Wellhead Protection Rule.
- The PWS must have an approved Drinking Water Supply Management Area (DWSMA) and work must take place only in DWSMAs that are currently active, unless the work involves public education, exploratory work for new wells, or sealing of old municipal wells.
- For PWSs who were awarded a source water protection grant in the past: the public water system has met all the conditions that were specified in a previous source water protection implementation grant and the previous grant is closed. If conditions of a previous grant of the same type have not been met, the PWS is penalized by not being allowed to participate in the next grant cycle.
For more information, visit MDH.
