Water Efficiency and Education Grant

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Tempe Water Conservation and Efficiency maintains a robust rebate, grant and education program dedicated to the needs of Tempe’s Water Service Area since 1998. The Water Efficiency and Education Grant (WEEG) program, formerly titled the Industrial Grant, was created for the commercial, industrial and institutional, or CII, customer classes. Improvements to this program were guided by local stakeholder input and implemented in 2021.

The WEEG program is open to all non-residential customers in Tempe’s water service area seeking significant water efficiency upgrades. Eligible projects may include upgrades in water efficiency for domestic consumption, landscaping, cooling towers and industrial process modifications. All projects are guided by a unique grant agreement that begins after an applicant has been notified of their approved award status. Projects that have already been completed and those associated with new construction are ineligible. The WEEG program covers 50% of project costs, with a maximum cost share of $60,000 for all projects.

Applications will be accepted beginning in January each year, with a deadline of 3:00 p.m. on March 31 of the same year. A grant committee will then review applications, and applicants will be notified of their standing by May 1. Awardees must complete projects by April 30 of the following year and submit the final grant report by June 1. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact Water Conservation at conservation@tempe.gov or 480-350-8351 to discuss potential projects as soon as possible.

An info session was held on January 11, 2024.

View the info session here.

The application cycle for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is now closed. The next grant cycle will open in January 2025.

Pre-Approval

Before submitting an application, please complete the following items:

- Consult with Water Conservation to discuss the potential project’s scope.
- Review the fact sheet and understand the grant process.
- Attend or watch the recorded informational webinar.
- Complete a water efficiency consultation.*
- Register your utility account on WaterSmart.

For landscape modification projects only:

- Meet with Tempe's Planning Division to ensure compliance with city landscape codes.

*Water efficiency consultations can be completed by Tempe Water Conservation staff or by a third-party vendor of the applicant’s choosing. Once completed, consultations will remain valid for five years or until water efficiency upgrades have been made, whichever is sooner. Contact Water Conservation at conservation@tempe.gov or 480-350-8351 to schedule a consultation.

Application

The application for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is now closed.

The grant application is a fillable PDF. Please save the completed application and combine it with any other attachments (quotes, projected water savings data, budget, etc.) into a single PDF file packet.

The grant application packet should be in the following order:

- Application
- Budget table (if applicable)
- Quotes
- Completed W-9 form (projects seeking $600 of funding or more)
- Supplemental water savings data (if applicable).
- A copy of the water efficiency consultation report, if the consultation was not completed by the City of Tempe
- Written approval from Tempe’s Planning Division for the project (landscape modification projects only).

How to Combine PDFs

Email completed applications to conservation@tempe.gov, or mail hardcopies to attention Tempe Water Conservation at P.O. Box 5002, Tempe, AZ 85280.

Eligible Applicants and Projects

All non-residential customers in Tempe's water service area are eligible for funding, including but not limited to schools, businesses, restaurants, manufacturers, hotels and retail spaces. Multi-Family Residential (MFR) customers and homeowners associations (HOA) are not eligible for this program. Please visit our rebates webpage for additional incentives Tempe offers that are specific to MFR and HOA customers.

All projects that will generate quantifiable water savings backed by data, are eligible for funding. This includes projects in the following categories:

- Domestic/sanitary fixture upgrades.*
- Landscaping and irrigation improvements.*
- Cooling tower upgrades.
- Industrial process modifications.

New construction and water efficiency upgrades that have already taken place are ineligible.

*Minimum device efficiency standards apply, see the application for details.

Funding

The WEEG program covers 50% of project costs, with a maximum cost share of $60,000 for all projects that are issued funding from Tempe in a fiscal year. Funding for projects is done in two parts. The first part will be awarded in May of the same year, once an agreement has been signed by the participating business. The second part will be awarded once the participating business has completed their project, the educational component, and turned in all necessary paperwork.

Education Requirement

Applicants are required to hold water conservation related training during the grant cycle, with a goal of educating grant recipient staff on water conservation best management practices and to highlight the efficiency upgrades associated with the grant funding. This can be accomplished through many acceptable formats (virtually, in a classroom setting or on a tour) and should be constructed in a format that is best suited to be effective in reaching the employees of each organization that is receiving grant funding. At a minimum, the training should contain an agenda and a sign-in sheet that includes the date and time of training and the name and position of the participants. A template for the sign-in sheet can be found in the application. Limited training and assistance may be provided by Water Conservation staff upon request.

How are grants evaluated?

The following categories will be used in application review:

Pre-Approval

- Consult with Water Conservation staff on the project’s scope.
- Review the grant guidelines document.
- Watch the informational webinar.
- Complete a water efficiency consultation.
- Meet with Planning to ensure compliance with city landscape codes (landscape modification projects only).

Completeness

- All parts of the application are addressed (quotes, education requirement, basic forms, etc.).
- The application is submitted by the deadline.

Effectiveness

- Rank projects based on the percent match funding offered out of the total project costs. If an applicant can provide more than 50 percent match or higher, this application would score more favorably.
- Rank projects based on the annual percentage of water savings estimated, with priority given to those that predict a greater the percentage of savings.

Eligibility

- Priority given to first time grant awardees.
- Priority given to non-publicly funded entities.
- Priority given to projects in Tempe’s non-member lands. Contact us to see if your project qualifies for this item.
- Priority given to applicants that classify as a small business or a non-profit (501(c)(3)). Determine your business size here.

Timeline of Deliverables

- Applications accepted beginning in January each year.
- Deadline to apply: By 3:00 p.m. on March 31
- Committee review: April
- Applicants notified of award status: May 1
- First part of funds distributed: May, after agreement signed
- Deadline to complete project: April 30 of the following year.
- Deadline to submit the close-out report: June 1 of the following year.
-Second part of funds distributed: After project completion, educational component complete and all paperwork turned in.

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Water Efficiency and Education Grant

An info session was held on January 11, 2024.

The application cycle for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is now closed. The next grant cycle will open in January 2025.

The application for Fiscal Year 2024-2025 is now closed.