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Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate grants

Office of the Clean Water Public Advocate grants

Our Office has helped administer over $10 million in grant awards through several grant programs, including EPA’s Small, Rural, and Tribal Drinking Water Assistance Grant (previously known as the Small, Underserved and Disadvantaged Communities Grant), EGLE’s Affordability and Planning Grant, and others. Learn more about other funding opportunities through EGLE.

 

Projects funded through these grants include affordability studies, leak detection projects, regionalization efforts, lead service line replacement, treatment upgrades, contaminated well area extensions, resilience projects, and youth workforce pilots. 

Affordability and Planning (AP) Grant

The Affordability and Planning (AP) Grant was available as part of EGLE’s Clean Water Plan, which was designed to provide funding to address water infrastructure needs across the state of Michigan. The AP grant program included $7.5 million to assist communities with addressing affordability and planning needs.

In Fiscal Year 2021, EGLE awarded $1.9 million awarded to communities.  Over $13 million was requested. In 2024, EGLE awarded the remaining funding, and over $12 million was requested. This grant program is now closed; however, the large amount of unfunded projects shows the need for more programs like this.

Communities used the funds to research and develop affordability programs, complete leak detection surveys, conduct rate studies, analyze alternatives, and explore the potential of sharing resources with other communities. 

 

Water treatment plant filter gallery Water treatment plant filter gallery

Examples of communities who receive funding are listed in the table below.

Community Project Purpose
Allendale Charter Township Rate Study
Charter Township of Caledonia Water Main Connection Planning
Charter Township of Independence Water Main Extension Planning
Charter Township of Marquette Water Revenue Sufficiency Study
City of Ecorse Water System Planning
City of Escanaba Regional Water System Planning
City of Grosse Pointe Woods Rate Study
City of Hamtramck Leak Detection
City of Highland Park Water System Planning and Leak Detection
City of Iron River Consolidation and Coordination Study
City of Kalamazoo Water Affordability Program
City of Midland Water and Wastewater Utility Rate Study
City of Mount Clemens Rate Study
City of Muskegon Affordability of Program Planning
City of Muskegon Heights Leak Detection Study
City of Saginaw Water System Studies and Planning
City of Saline Regionalization Analysis
City of Springfield Rate Study
City of St. Clair Shores Rate Study
Crystal Falls Township Affordability, Planning, and Regionalization Study
Detroit Water & Sewerage Department Water Affordability Plan and Leak Detection
Lansing Board of Water & Light Source Water Supply, Treatment, and Consolidation
Oakland County WRC Water Affordability Solutions
Summit Township Water System Consolidation Study
Tri-County Regional Planning Commission Feasibility Study
Village of Hillman Water Quality Improvement Planning
Village of Marion Water System Planning
Village of Marcellus Rate Study
Village of Pellston Water System Planning and Design
Village of Pewamo Rate Study
Village of Sheridan Rate Study
Village of Westphalia Rate Study
Small, Rural, and Tribal Drinking Water Assistance Grant Program (SmaRT) logo

Small, Rural, and Tribal Drinking Water Assistance Grant Program (SmaRT)

The Small, Rural, and Tribal Drinking Water Assistance Grant Program (SmaRT), established under the Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation (WIIN) Act, awards funding to states and territories on a non-competitive basis. The grant program is designed to help public water systems in small, underserved, and disadvantaged communities meet and comply with Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) drinking water regulations by providing funding for drinking water projects and activities. 

Each year, OCWPA identifies a project that meets the objectives of the SmaRT grant by bringing healthy drinking water to areas in need. The funding available through this grant is rarely enough to fully complete a project. However, OCWPA works to help water systems braid funding sources to ensure full completion of the project.   

 

Some examples of how this grant is making a difference include:

  • This funding helped develop a water main connection to connect the Whites Beach area of Standish Township to the City of Pinconning’s water supply. Standish Township is a small community with no municipal water system, and residents receive water from individual private residential wells that have an extensive number of violations. Approximately 70% of existing wells and septic systems were failing. This area does not have a healthy groundwater source to draw from or a water treatment facility and required a connection to a nearby water system. This project helped establish safe and reliable drinking water, while minimizing the financial burden, to the residents of the township. 
  • This funding covered the engineering costs to help connect four separate areas of Grayling Township to the Beaver Creek Grayling Township Utility Authority. These areas of Grayling Township have no municipal water supply, and many residential wells have tested above the maximum allowable limits for perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contaminants. This project will allow residents to have healthy drinking water in their homes. 
  • State and Federal regulations require water supplies to remove existing lead service lines (LSLs), and this is a large expense for many communities throughout Michigan. In Dowagiac, where multiple and ongoing action level exceedances for lead have occurred this funding is being used for a lead service line replacement (LSLR) program. This will reduce the financial burden on residents and help provide healthy water in homes. 
Lead service line replacement construction Lead service line replacement construction

Benton Harbor Water Workforce Grant

This grant supports opportunities for local youth to explore environmental science career pathways through job shadowing and hands on experience. The City of Benton Harbor hires teenage residents for the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP). The SYEP has been a vital workforce in Benton Harbor for many decades and has been a foundational first job for many adults in the community. With this grant funding Benton Harbor is able to extend their employment and offer experiences that expose youth to various environmental science careers.

Students and supervisors will take part in activities related to water science careers, such as kayaking to look for aquatic invasive species, assisting with invasive species removal with the Berrien County Conservation District, tours of the city’s drinking water plant and wastewater plant, and conducting freshwater science. This funding is also crucial to providing proper personal protective gear (PPE), tools, and materials to perform environmental stewardship tasks and have safe exploration in the field.

Water Leak Pilot

The Water Leak Pilot was launched by the OCWPA in February of 2021 in Benton Harbor and Highland Park, MI. With the support of state agency staff and community partners, 96 homes in Highland Park and 70 homes in Benton Harbor benefitted from the program and received free plumbing repairs, totaling over $60,000 in each community. Cost of repairs averaged over $600 per home in Highland Park and over $900 per home in Benton Harbor (not including free fixtures donated by Kohler).

 

The Water Leak Pilot was developed through partnerships with community-based organizations and local partners, with the support of state partners. The project was established to help reduce water and energy waste and the financial burden associated with water leaks. Aging infrastructure and older homes can contribute to energy and water waste, as well as public health concerns. Overall, water infrastructure and premise plumbing leaks are costly for residents and community water suppliers and may impact overall water affordability. 

The goals of this program were to increase community education about water leaks, share tips for water and energy savings, conduct household water audits, and provide funding for supply-side household plumbing repairs. In addition, all pilot participants received free Kohler fixtures and households with children under the age of 19 or pregnant persons were eligible for Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) Healthy Homes Program for lead and assessment and abatement. If you want to find out about potential sources of lead in your home and how to reduce risks, visit Michigan.gov/MiLeadSafe.

 

Steps of Water Leak Pilot:

Water Leak Pilot steps: 1. resident recruitment and outreach 2. water audits 3. plumbing repairs 4. program evaluation

Program evaluation was completed in early 2022. This report may be useful in improving similar future projects and helping to determine the potential to duplicate or expand a similar program.

Pie chart infographic of who the water leak pilot supports