Viable Utility Reserve
Viable Utility Reserve supports distressed North Carolina public water and wastewater systems through planning, construction, and other work aimed at lasting financial, technical, and operational viability.
Funder: North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
Due Dates: No application deadline stated
Funding Amounts: Up to $15 million per local government unit; up to $30 million for a merger of two or more units
Summary: Grants support long-term solutions for distressed North Carolina public water and wastewater systems.
Key Information: Units must be formally designated as distressed to be eligible for VUR funding.
Description
The Viable Utility Reserve (VUR) is administered by the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Water Infrastructure. It supports planning and construction that moves distressed public water and wastewater systems toward financial, technical, and operational viability. Funded work can include regional interconnections and extensions, infrastructure rehabilitation, decentralization into smaller viable systems, and studies of rates, assets, mergers, or regionalization.
The reserve also supports other feasible approaches that help local government units generate sufficient revenue for operations, maintenance, personnel, and reinvestment. Emergency grants can address operating deficits under narrower conditions. The State Water Infrastructure Authority and Local Government Commission jointly identify distressed units and develop grant evaluation criteria.
