Water resources drought response grants

This funding opportunity was open July 25 through Nov. 20, 2023.

We issued a Drought Emergency Declaration on July 24, 2023. On July 18, 2023, the state Executive Water Emergency Committee determined that specific areas in Washington meet the statutory criteria for drought conditions described in Chapter 43.83B RCW, "water supply is less than 75 percent of normal, resulting in undue hardships to water users and the environment." Under SHB 1138, Emergency Drought Response, funding became available to alleviate immediate conditions from this drought. The adopted emergency drought funding rule, Chapter 173-167 WAC, remained effective until Nov. 20, 2023.

Funding cycle

  • Amount of funding available: $2.7 million
  • Grant award limit: A project cannot exceed more than 25% of total funds available.
  • Amount of matching funds required: Cost-share funds of at least 50% are required, unless the applicant is a public water system that serves an economically disadvantaged community.

Applications are not being accepted at this time.

Funding is available for the following entities:

Funding was available for the following entities:

To be eligible for funding, one or more of the following must be partially or completely within the area of a drought declaration order by Ecology:

  1. The public water system’s service area.

  2. The geographic area where irrigated agriculture or livestock are located.

  3. The source of water, or the water body, that supplies water to the entity applying for funding.

The reduction in water supply caused by drought must cause, or will cause, undue hardship, as described under WAC 173-167-120.

More information about this funding program