The Iowa Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF) provides low-interest loans and financial assistance to public water systems for the design and construction of a variety of projects to ensure public health protection the provision of safe drinking water.
The DWSRF program leverages federal funding to finance a wide range of eligible projects at below-market interest rates, including improvements to drinking water treatment, storage, and transmission/distribution systems.
DWSRF - Eligibility & Terms
Public and private community water systems (CWS), whether they are for profit or non-profit
Nontransient noncommunity (NTNC) public water systems, if they are either publicly owned or non-profit
Transient noncommunity (TNC) systems if they are owned by government entities
The DWSRF program can fund a wide array of drinking water infrastructure projects. EPA has identified six categories of projects that are eligible to receive DWSRF assistance:
Treatment: Projects to install or upgrade facilities to improve drinking water quality to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) regulations
Transmission and distribution: Rehabilitation, replacement or installation of piping to improve water pressure to safe levels or prevent contamination caused by leaky or broken pipes
Source: Rehabilitation of wells or development of eligible sources to replace contaminated sources
Storage: Installation or upgrade of finished water storage tanks to prevent microbiological contamination from entering the distribution system
Consolidation: Interconnecting two or more water systems
Creation of new systems: Construct a new system to serve homes with contaminated individual wells or consolidate existing systems into a new regional water system
Below-market interest rate
No debt service reserve requirements
Low fees
Low debt service coverage requirement
No underwriter or trustee
Funding is always available
No maximum loan amount
No “affordability” restrictions or population limits
Steps to Financing a Project with SRF
A Planning and Design Loan can be used to identify a project’s scope and develop a facility plan. Contact the DNR SRF Coordinator to schedule a project initiation meeting with the DNR project managers.
The Intended Use Plan (IUP) Application is used to apply for inclusion on the project priority list of the Drinking Water SRF IUP at the time the Preliminary Engineering Report and the Viability Assessment are submitted. Projects must be on an approved IUP to be eligible for SRF funding. The IUP application is not an application for a loan.
Agency Technical and Environmental Reviews
Project Bidding
After the wastewater, stormwater, or drinking water project has been designed and the project is ready for construction financing, an SRF Construction Loan application is submitted by the applicant.
