MassDEP has made the latest round of Water Management Act Grants available for application. This grant program is designed to assist eligible public water suppliers and municipalities with Water Management Act permits by providing funds for planning assistance, demand management, and withdrawal impact mitigation projects in local communities.

The grants are focused on support for:

• planning projects for specific watersheds or subwatersheds to identify implementation projects to improve ecological conditions
• conservation projects aimed to reduce the demand for water within a municipality or a watershed, such as rate studies or drought resiliency planning; and
• withdrawal mitigation projects that address the following: improve or increase instream flow, wastewater projects that keep water local, stormwater management projects that improve recharge, reduce impervious cover and/or improve water quality, water supply operational improvements, habitat improvement, demand management, reduction of wastewater inflow and infiltration, and other projects that can be demonstrated to mitigate the impacts of water withdrawals.

Application deadline: September 21, 2026

Eligible applicants: public water suppliers and municipalities with a Water Management Act permit or permit application under review
Awards: May range from $25,000 - $350,000 per application

More information on the Water Management Act Grants can be found on MassDEP’s website: https://www.mass.gov/info-details/water-management-act-grant-programs-for-public-water-suppliers.