Aid_Content Page_Loan Capacity

Loan Capacity

Clean Water Fund Program and Safe Drinking Water Loan Program

The Environmental Loans Section intends to provide loan capacity updates on this page and through other channels as additional information becomes available.

Oct. 22, 2026, Update

  • Total loan capacity for the Safe Drinking Water Loan Program (SDWLP) is $282 million for the state fiscal year (SFY) 2027 funding cycle. In addition, $72 million in principal forgiveness (PF) funding (regular PF and emerging contaminants PF) is estimated to be available for approximately $354 million in total funding.
    • This is anticipated to be enough funding for all SFY 2027 SDWLP applicants who submitted complete applications by the SFY 2027 application deadline (June 30, 2026).
    • Supplemental SDWLP applications will be accepted for SFY 2027; however, there is no guarantee that they will be funded.
  • Total loan capacity for the Lead Service Line (LSL) Replacement Program for the SFY 2027 funding cycle is $40,106,707. In addition, $56,755,656 in PF funding is available for $102,862,363 in total funding.
    • Supplemental LSL applications will not be accepted for SFY 2027.
  • Total loan capacity for the Clean Water Fund Program (CWFP) is $578 million for the SFY 2027 funding cycle. In addition, approximately $57 million in principal forgiveness funding (regular PF and emerging contaminants PF) is available for an estimated total of $635 million available in funding.
    • This is not anticipated to be enough funding for all SFY 2027 CWFP applicants who submitted complete applications by the SFY 2027 application deadline (Sept. 30, 2026).
    • Supplemental CWFP applications can be submitted for SFY 2027; however, there is no guarantee that they will be funded.

Back to Top

Why

The volume of total financial assistance requested in state fiscal year 2024, SFY 2025, SFY 2026 and SFY 2027 represented a dramatic increase over historical norms.

Although the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL, also known as Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [IIJA] of 2021) funding provides a substantial increase in the amount of principal forgiveness available, it only increases total loan capacity fractionally. For more information, refer to the DNR's BIL Funding webpage.

The CWFP and SDWLP have the flexibility to accommodate moderate increases in funding requested over historic norms, but the level of funding requested in the past four years has strained that flexibility.

On July 3, 2025, the state 2025-27 biennial budget was signed into law, which increased the Environmental Improvement Fund (EIF) revenue obligation bonding authority by $732 million. While this helps meet the recent increase in demand for funding, loan capacity also depends on other factors. For example, the Department of Administration must balance how much it can leverage the fund while ensuring loan capacity remains sustainable in the future.

FAQs

The following questions and answers may be updated in the future if additional questions arise.

Feb. 8, 2024, Webinar

  • On Feb. 8, 2024, the Wisconsin DNR held a webinar to discuss loan capacity limitations and resulting impacts. A recording of the presentation is available here [VIDEO Length 0:14:55].

Back to Top

What is the impact to current applicants?

Safe Drinking Water Loan Program

Base Program

Sufficient funding is available for all applicants that submitted complete SDWLP applications by the June 30, 2026 application deadline for SFY 2027 base program projects.

  • Supplemental SDWLP applications will be accepted for SFY 2027; however, there is no guarantee that they will be funded.

Safe Drinking Water Emerging Contaminants (SDW-EC) Program

Sufficient funding is available for all SDW-EC applicants. For program information, see the DNR's IIJA/BIL-funded SDW-EC Program webpage.

Lead Service Line (LSL) Replacement Program

There is not enough BIL LSL loan funding for non-private side replacements for any applicant for SFY 2027. Those applicants that were not allocated full funding may have the opportunity to take base SDWLP loan funding at the standard subsidized loan rate. For more information, read the Oct. 22, 2026 "Funding List Published for LSL Replacement Program for SFY 2027" bulletin. For program information, see the DNR's BIL-funded LSL Replacement Program webpage.

  • Supplemental LSL applications will not be accepted for the SFY 2027 funding cycle.

Clean Water Fund Program

Base Program

Sufficient funding is not available for all SFY 2027 projects that submitted complete CWFP applications by the Sept. 30, 2026 application deadline. Loan funding will be allocated in priority score order on the SFY 2027 funding list. If additional funding is available, that funding can be allocated, in priority score order, to those projects that submitted complete applications by the competitive deadline. Additional loan funding may become available if a project closes their loan under budget or a project withdraws.

  • Supplemental CWFP applications can be submitted for the SFY 2027 funding cycle; however, there is no guarantee that they will be funded. Supplemental applications will only be funded after all projects that submitted an application by the Sept. 30, 2026 competitive deadline are funded. If funding becomes available for supplemental applications, they will be funded in order received.

Clean Water Emerging Contaminants (CW-EC) Program

Approximately $13 million in EC PF is available for SFY 2027 EC projects that submitted an application by the Sept. 30, 2026 competitive deadline. Every project will be allocated EC PF through the first pass. It is anticipated that there will not be sufficient funding to fully allocate EC PF to all CW-EC applicants during the second pass. In addition, loan money will be allocated for 30% of EC project costs, up to $3,428,572. For program information, see the DNR's IIJA/BIL-funded CW-EC Program webpage.

Funding lists timeline

The DNR publishes the funding lists for the CWFP, SDWLP, LSL Replacement Program, CW-EC Program and SDW-EC Program on the Project Lists and Intended Use Plans webpage.

  • On Oct. 22, 2026, the DNR published the SFY 2027 LSL Replacement Program Funding List. For more information, read the Oct. 22, 2026 "Funding List Published for LSL Replacement Program for SFY 2027" bulletin.
  • In November 2026, the DNR intends to publish the draft SFY 2027 SDWLP Funding List.
  • In December 2026, the DNR intends to publish the final SFY 2027 SDWLP Funding List.
  • In December 2026, the DNR intends to publish the SFY 2027 CWFP Funding List.

Contact Information

Clean Water Fund Program

Direct questions about CWFP funding to:

Lisa Bushby, CWFP coordinator, at Lisa.Bushby@Wisconsin.gov

Safe Drinking Water Loan Program

Direct questions about SDWLP funding to:

Noah Balgooyen, SDWLP coordinator, at Noah.Balgooyen@Wisconsin.gov

Lead Service Line Replacement Program

Direct questions about LSL funding to:

Kate Leja-Brennan, LSL Replacement Program specialist, at Kathryn.Leja@wisconsin.gov

Dan Noreika, LSL Replacement Program specialist, at Daniel.Noreika@wisconsin.gov

Emerging Contaminants Programs

Direct questions about CW-EC and SDW-EC funding to:

Ryan Atkinson, EC programs specialist, at Ryan.Atkinson@wisconsin.gov

Back to Top