Drinking Water Protection has allocated some funds to the Department's Alaska Clean Water Actions (ACWA) grant process. The funds are to be used for public water systems (PWS)s, with priority given to Community Water Systems (CWS)s, to conduct protection activities identified in an Endorsed Drinking Water Protection Plan. The grant funding is intended to focus on protection activities that address potential and existing sources of contamination identified within a Drinking Water Protection Area (DWPA) for a PWS source (i.e. well capture zones or surface water buffer zones). To identify DWPAs in your area; please contact Drinking Water Protection staff, Chris Miller, Charley Palmer, or Anne Gleason. Examples of qualifying protection activities may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Properly decommissioning abandoned wells;
• Developing an educational outreach program for on-site septic system maintenance;
• Developing an on-site septic system maintenance program for your community;
• Developing an ordinance that explicitly addresses drinking water protection;
• To help fund the clean-up/removal of potential small contaminated sites and leaking underground storage tanks (LUST)s on non-State-owned property.

This year's (Fiscal Year 2011) allocation of funds from the Drinking Water Program was $17,000. We hope that by showing an interest through increased participation that we will be able to grow the amount available. The ACWA grant process also has a minimum dollar amount for a grant application of $2,500, but please do not let this discourage you from applying, because applying enables us to determine where there is an active interest in protecting drinking water and we can then make an effort to direct staff time to your area in the form of workshops and/or technical assistance.

The application period is now CLOSED, and the next application period will begin in January, 2011. . Notification of the next open application period will be published in the Drinking Water Program's Northern Flows newsletter. To be included in the Northern Flows newsletter distribution, please sign up for the e-mail listserv at http://list.state.ak.us/soalists/Northern-Flows/jl.htm, or contact the Drinking water Program. If you're unsure whether your project(s) would qualify for potential funding, please contact Chris Miller.