State Water Board holds workshop on 2025–26 Clean Water SRF intended use plan as funding picture shifts

The State Water Resources Control Board held a public workshop on June 17 in Sacramento to review its draft 2025–26 Clean Water State Revolving Fund intended use plan, outlining loan capacity, grant targets and program priorities as federal and state funding levels remain uncertain.

The IUP guides how the Division of Financial Assistance will allocate Clean Water SRF loans and principal forgiveness, the small-community wastewater grant program, water recycling grants and the modest stormwater principal-forgiveness pilot for the 2025–26 fiscal year. "The IUP will guide staff in implementing Clean Water SRF, small-community wastewater, and water recycling funding programs for the upcoming fiscal year," DFA deputy director Lisa Hong told the board.

Why it matters: the SRF is the state’s principal vehicle for financing municipal wastewater, stormwater and recycling projects. The workshop came as Congress had returned to a continuing resolution that restored the program’s baseline but left uncertainty about future federal appropriations; the administration’s 2026 proposal would reduce SRF baseline funds. That uncertainty affects both the loan program’s leveraging capacity and the…