Cities, towns, villages, counties, tribes, and public inland lake protection and rehabilitation districts (lake districts) may apply for grants to conduct dam maintenance, repair, modification or abandonment and removal on dams that they own.

An applicant must own the entire dam or have permanent legal access for operation and maintenance to the specific piece of land on which the dam is physically located.

Private dam owners are not eligible to apply.

Dams that are inspected, approved and licensed by a federal agency under 18 CFR Part 12 are not eligible to receive funding. (NR 335.02(2)(b))

Applications will be accepted through the close of business on March 4, 2022. Applications received after March 4 are not eligible for consideration.

Application Submittal -- To be considered for grant funding, the completed application and all required attachments must be received by the department by close of business (4:30 p.m.) on the application due date.

Next Steps:

- March through May - Application review, scoring and ranking.
- Early June – Priority funding notification letters mailed.
- June – DNR water management engineers (WME) meet with applicants receiving a commitment for funding.
- June – December 1st Grant applicant must submit a permit application to reconstruct/repair or remove (including plans and specifications) the dam. Submit online at https://dnr.wi.gov/topic/Dams/permits.html
- Project bids are due within 90 days of the DNR WME plans and specifications approval date.
- The grant award agreement will be issued after the DNR WME bid approval notification to the applicant.

Mail or hand-deliver the completed application. Faxed or emailed applications will not be accepted – due to the generally large size of the dam grant application attachments.

For dams to be removed, it is required to submit a delineation of the 100-year floodplain upstream of the dam with the dam removed. These studies need to be conducted to the standards of chs. NR 333 and NR 116, Wis. Adm. Codes. It is strongly recommended that your engineering consultant contact Tanya Lourigan, State Dam Safety Engineer, prior to starting any analyses. Tanya can be also be contacted for information on how to hire a consultant to do this work.

The Municipal Dam grant program provides a cost-sharing opportunity. Funding sources outside the applicant's own resources can be used toward the local match for this grant.

Information about permits and approvals: https://dnr.wisconsin.gov/topic/dams/permits.html

Estimated Size of Grant: