Local Source Water Protection Grant (New Hampshire) is sponsored by New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services. This grant program provides funding for security improvements at drinking water facilities and other source water protection projects.

Providing small grants for the purpose of protecting drinking water sources. NHDES provides small grants to water suppliers, municipalities and other local organizations for the purpose of protecting drinking water sources. Protection projects funded through this program have included: * Delineation of wellhead protection areas.

* Inventorying potential contamination sources. * Development of local protection ordinances. * Groundwater reclassification.

* Shoreline surveys. Drinking water education and outreach activities, * Controlling access to sources. Ensuring safe and adequate drinking water supplies requires maintaining the quality and availability of present and future water supply sources, because in the long run it is less expensive and more protective of public health to prevent contamination than it is to treat water to meet health standards.

It is also less expensive to use existing sources than it is to develop new ones. New contaminants of concern continue to emerge, potentially requiring a costlier treatment of source waters if they have not been adequately protected. Municipalities and water suppliers have crucial roles in managing activities that affect source water quality and availability.

NHDES' primary role is to provide technical and financial assistance and to enforce state regulations that serve to protect the state’s sources of drinking water. Effective protection relies on the combined efforts of the state, water suppliers, municipalities, businesses, institutions, and individuals whose activities have the potential to affect source water quality and availability.

The grant award for any one project cannot be more than $25,000 (or $30,000 for projects that address climate change). However, applicants can submit applications for multiple projects in the same grant year. Local match funds are not required but are considered during application scoring.

### Project eligibility criteria * Projects must address active or planned sources for public water systems. Planned sources must have at least a preliminary well siting report (for groundwater sources) submitted to NHDES or have a conceptual plan (for surface water sources) submitted to NHDES.

The agency encourages projects that encompass a broader geographic scope (such as an aquifer, a watershed, a municipality, or some other area) if multiple public water supply sources are included. * Projects must address some component of a source water protection program. These categories include delineation, assessment, planning, implementation and security.

(See information packet for more details and examples.) * Projects involving new or updated source water protection, resource or other plans (master plans, watershed plans, forest management, conservation, etc.) must address climate change impacts on sources. This could include stormwater infrastructure or regulations, drought restrictions, low impact development regulations, hazard mitigation plans or climate vulnerability assessments.

* Projects involving the collection, analysis or manipulation of environmental data, if selected for funding, will require a Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP), Site Specific Project Plan (SSPP) or Secondary Data QAPP. See information packet for more details about QAPP requirements. Contact NHDES before completing your application to clarify QAPP/SSPP requirements.

Failure to address QAPP/SSPP requirements in your application will result in the project not being considered for funding. * Funds can be provided only for work done after final approval of the grant agreement by the Governor and Council (G&C). The G&C process typically takes several months after NHDES selects the project for funding, typically in January.

Therefore, work funded by these grants can generally begin in the spring, but if there are delays receiving final paperwork from applicants, projects may begin in summer. * Projects that seek funding for activities required under NHDES permitting and regulations (with the exception of source water protection plans for new or modified surface intakes) are not eligible.

For example, inventorying potential contamination sources as required under new community well siting rules, Env-Dw 302 or 305, is not eligible. However, funding to complete certain activities required under federal permits may be eligible.

For example, activities that protect source water conducted under U.S. EPA’s Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) permit, including identification, monitoring and elimination of illicit discharges, and particularly high priority outfalls that discharge to sources or within source protection areas.

Conducting public education and the design/installation of structural BMPs may be eligible, provided they meet the eligibility criteria noted above. Routine operations/maintenance activities are not eligible.

* Grants may be used to implement security measures, as long as the project protects the source itself and not infrastructure associated with the source (e.g., an offsite booster station); this can include fencing around wells or intake areas. The fencing may include other nearby water system infrastructure/buildings as well, as long as the source is within the fenced-in area.

Gates for well and intake access roads are eligible, along with access control for those areas. Alarms, signs, cameras, locks and lights for sources are also eligible. * Cameras and equipment are eligible only if they are directly monitoring the source itself.

Cameras that are not directly monitoring the source, or that only monitor other buildings on site (storage tanks, chemical buildings, etc.) are not eligible. ### 2026 grant application now available! Applications for the 2026 round of grants are due November 1, 2025.

* Regional planning commissions. * County conservation districts. * Watershed associations.

* Nonprofit organizations. * Educational institutions. * What makes an application competitive?

* The application should include a clear and defined purpose and scope of work. What is your goal and how will it result in improved source protection? * Provide as many details as possible.

Be specific in terms of timelines, site plans, etc. Include as much additional information as possible regarding who is involved and the reason for the project. * What specific threats will the project address and how will the project help resolve those issues? * The project should demonstrate a high likelihood of implementation.

* Identify and engage stakeholders and obtain letters of support from individuals, committees or boards who would be responsible for project implementation. * Project tasks should have tangible deliverables for NHDES to review once completed.