Drought Resiliency and Water Efficiency Grant Program RFR

In recent years, the Commonwealth has been experiencing more frequent and intense drought. Since 2016, nine of the eleven years have had multiple months of drought. These droughts have caused impacts to water supply, habitat and the natural environment, and are exacerbating fire danger across the state.

With climate change, increasing temperatures and predictions of more consecutive number of dry days, droughts are expected to increase in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) is soliciting proposals from municipalities, public water suppliers, nonprofit organizations, public schools/colleges/universities, and regional planning agencies (RPAs) to participate in a Drought Resiliency and Water Efficiency (DRWE) Grant Program. The DRWE Grant Program aims to provide funding for projects that will help the Commonwealth become more climate resilient, specifically by reducing indoor and outdoor water use, improving water loss control, and increasing drought management/planning in communities and public water systems across the state.

This is a REIMBURSEMENT program. Target awards are up to $50,000 per project. The program helps implement actions in the 2023 ResilientMass Plan.

For the third year of this program, EEA has again adopted a relatively broad scope to encourage a diverse range of innovative proposals and is particularly interested in water efficiency and demand management projects that are not currently funded through other programs. The focus is on initiatives that promise the greatest long-term impact on water use reduction, ensuring sustainable water management for the future.