Grants for a Water Well
Ensuring that people in the U.S. and around the world have access to a plentiful supply of clean water is a priority for the federal government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture offers grants to help municipalities, organizations and individuals dig water wells. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency provides grants to protect watersheds and to deal with wastewater systems. While the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), as well as private foundations, such as Oxfam, Ford Foundation, and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, provide grant funds for digging water wells in developing countries. Below are a few of the grant programs for developing and maintaining drinking water supplies offered by the USDA. Does this Spark an idea?
Household Water Well Program
This program makes grants to private non-profits to help low to moderate income individuals in rural areas construct, refurbish and maintain individual-owned wells that serve households. The organizations use the grant funds to establish revolving loan funds from which individual households may borrow. Some of the recipients of these federal grants were Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties, Oak Ridge, Tenn.; Self-Help Enterprises, Visalia, California; Southeast Rural Community Assistance Project, Roanoke, Virginia.; Northeast Michigan Affordable Housing Inc., Alpena, Michigan; and Rutland West Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc., West Rutland, Vermont.
Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants Program
Through this program, the USDA helps people whose well or other water supply system has deteriorated due to flood, hurricane, earthquake or other disaster to the point where they cannot get enough good-quality drinking water. The funds may be used to construct new wells and for several other purposes. Applicants for these grants include rural municipalities (cities, towns, special district governments, Indian tribes) and nonprofits serving rural areas. Some recipients of grants under this program are the community of Athol, Idaho; Bartley, Indianola and Cambridge (BIC) Joint Water Agency in Nebraska.
Section 504 Rural Housing Loans and Grants
Low-interest loans and grants are available to help very low-income people repair or improve their homes to eliminate health and safety hazards. Among the eligible projects are improvements to or replacement of wells. Applicants must own and live in a home in the rural U.S. and be able to show that they can repay the loan. Grants are available only to people 62 and older.
Apply
Information on these loan and grant programs is available from U.S. Department of Agriculture for Rural Development county or district offices. Many of these grant programs are administered at the state level, so to find specific information about applying for these grants, identify the agency in your state that oversees them. Most likely, it is your state's Department of Natural Resources or Department of Environmental Protection.
Tags: grant programs, Water Well, Department Agriculture, drinking water, Environmental Protection
