State Revolving Loan Fund

Taroon V. Bidar, P.E., Senior Environmental Engineer
phone: 515-725-0278
Taroon.Bidar@dnr.iowa.gov

Iowa's drinking water state revolving fund (SRF) program makes loans to drinking water systems for design and construction to ensure public health protection the the provision of safe drinking water.  IDNR has established priorities for the SRF, and will publish them each year in its Intended Use Plan (IUP) (off-site).  The IUP includes the proposed uses of the moneys and describes how each project will be managed.

IDNR has prepared scoring criteria to address health risks, rule compliance, and infrastructure needs, including criteria for loan eligibility.  The criteria uses a point system based on health-based standards violations (MCL, MRDL, TT, and ALE), system vulnerability, infrastructure improvement needs, population, and design deficiencies.

The Water Supply Construction Manual outlines the process of receiving a water supply construction permit, with instructions for participating in the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund.

To be eligible for placement on DNR's Priority List (off-site), a PWS must have a preliminary engineering study of potential system needs (e.g., a "planning" study), approved by the department, and submit a written application for placement on the Priority List.  The application must include:

• a description of the type of project for which financial assistance is being requested,
• the amount of financial assistance being requested, and
• a proposed preliminary project construction schedule.

All applicants seeking money for project construction must include with their final application a completed Self-Assessment Manual for Iowa Water System Viability. Note that the budgeting worksheets at the end of the self-assessment manual are not applicable for SRF projects. SRF applicants will demonstrate financial viability through their work with a municipal advisor as required by the SRF program.

A breakdown of stages for the selected project must also be included with the submission, if the project will have sub-components.  Loans will be available to public and private community public water supply systems (CWS) whether they are "for profit" or "not for profit", nontransient noncommunity public water supply systems (NTNC) if they are either owned by a public entity or are "not for profit, " and transient noncommunity public water supply systems (TNC) if they are owned by government entities.