Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the department shall provide financial assistance through a water system acquisition and rehabilitation program, hereby created. The department shall adopt guidelines for the program using as a model the procedures and criteria of the drinking water revolving loan program authorized under RCW 70A.125.160. All financing provided through the program must be in the form of grants or loans that partially cover project costs, including projects and planning required under RCW 43.20.310. The maximum grant or loan to any eligible entity may not exceed 25 percent of the funds allocated to the appropriation in any fiscal year.

Finding—Purpose—2008 c 214: "The legislature finds that it is the state's policy to maintain the highest quality and reliability of drinking water supplies to all citizens of the state. Small water systems may face greater challenges in this regard because of declining quality in water sources, catastrophic events such as flooding that impair water sources, the age of the system's infrastructure, saltwater intrusion into water sources, inadequate rate base for conducting necessary improvements, and other challenges. In response to these needs, the water system acquisition and rehabilitation program was created through biennial budget law, and through the current biennium has a total of nine million seven-hundred fifty thousand dollars toward assisting dozens of water systems to improve the quality of water supply service to thousands of customers.

It is the purpose of this act to establish an ongoing water system acquisition and rehabilitation program, to direct a review of the program to date, and to provide for recommendations for strengthening the program and increasing the financial assistance available under the program." [ 2008 c 214 § 1.]