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Water Meter and AMI Grants: How to Fund a Resident Portal in the Same Project

Fluvio Team·October 8, 2026·7 min read

Water meter and AMI grants usually get written for hardware: meters, endpoints, collectors, and installation. The resident portal gets left out. It's the part that turns meter data into leak alerts residents actually see. Later it gets paid for from the operating budget, or not at all.

There's a better way. Write the portal into the meter project from day one, as part of how the project saves water.

This post covers two federal sources, what they will and won't pay for, sample language you can adapt, and the risks.

This is not legal advice. Confirm requirements with your state primacy agency and your state's revolving fund program before you apply.

Why the portal belongs in the meter project

AMI can spot a leak on the customer's side of the meter within hours. But no water is saved until the resident learns about it and fixes it. We covered this in why AMI is wasted without a portal.

Funders care about water saved. The alert is how detection turns into a fix. That makes the portal part of the efficiency story, not a nice extra.

It also helps your budget. Software tied to a funded capital project is easier to pay for now than as a new line item in next year's operating budget.

Water meter and AMI grants: WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects

The Bureau of Reclamation's WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects program funds small, on-the-ground efficiency work. "Municipal metering" is one of its listed project types.

Here's what the fiscal year 2026 funding opportunity offered, per Reclamation's March 2026 applicant webinar:

  • Up to $125,000 in Reclamation funds for two-year projects
  • Total project costs of up to $250,000
  • At least a 50% non-federal cost share
  • $4 million available, for about 50 awards
  • Applications were due June 2, 2026

It's western states only. Applicants must be in Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, or a listed U.S. territory. Eligible applicants include states, tribes, water districts, and other groups with water delivery authority.

A few things in the scoring matter for a portal:

  • Planning counts for 25 points. The project should come from a water conservation plan or a similar planning effort. Name the plan and show how leak alerts support it.
  • Routine replacement is not eligible. Swapping like for like is normal operations and maintenance. Your project has to improve efficiency, and resident alerts help make that case.
  • Hard infrastructure scores higher. The 2026 criteria favor built infrastructure. Keep meters as the core of the project and the portal as a supporting line.
  • New priorities. The 2026 criteria also gave points for administration priorities, including projects that use artificial intelligence (AI).

Reclamation's list of selected applications is public. It includes a 2024 AMI Expansion Project application from the City of Cheyenne Board of Public Utilities in Wyoming. Read a few funded applications before you write yours.

Two honest notes. First, Reclamation's project list names metering, not portal software. Ask the program coordinator or your Reclamation regional office how they view the software line before you apply. Second, don't count on a round every year. The same page notes Reclamation offered no funding opportunity in fiscal year 2023. Watch the program page for the next notice.

The Drinking Water State Revolving Fund (DWSRF)

The DWSRF is open to utilities in every state. Each state runs its own program, mostly through low-interest loans.

EPA's DWSRF Eligibility Handbook lists customer meters as eligible infrastructure. On software, it says three useful things:

  • Database and software purchases, like asset management systems, appear among eligible capital equipment.
  • Software and software training can count as project start-up costs when included in the construction contract or engineering services.
  • Operations and maintenance costs are not eligible.

That's why software is easiest to fund as part of the meter project. Setup, configuration, and training tied to the install are the strongest line items. Ongoing subscription fees look like operating costs, so plan to pay those yourself.

Water efficiency credit. EPA's Green Project Reserve guidance treats some meter projects as clearly water-efficient, with no extra business case. That includes replacing broken meters, upgrading to AMI or smart meters, and meters with built-in leak detection. Swapping in traditional meters needs a business case. The guidance was written for the Clean Water SRF. Some states use similar categories to reward DWSRF projects. For example, Indiana's 2027 DWSRF plan gives priority points and rate discounts for water-efficiency components. Check your state's intended use plan.

The budget risk. Federal SRF money is uncertain. EPA's FY 2027 budget request proposes $150 million for the DWSRF. Congress restored SRF funding after a similar proposal for FY 2026, but FY 2027 isn't settled. Indiana's plan also notes that no new Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act SRF awards come after FY 2026. Get on your state's project priority list early, and have a fallback plan.

Sample grant language you can adapt

Paste this into your project description and edit the brackets. Keep the claims true for your system.

As part of the [AMI / meter replacement] project, [Utility] will deploy a resident notification system that uses interval meter data to alert customers by text and email when their meter shows continuous flow or unusually high use. AMI can detect leaks on the customer side of the meter, but water is only saved when the customer learns about the leak and fixes it. The notification system closes that gap. Customers will be able to view their own usage online, opt in to leak and high-use alerts in English or Spanish, and reply by text with questions. [Utility] will track alerts sent, leaks reported fixed, and the change in accounts showing continuous flow over the project period. This work supports [goal] in [plan name, year].

A few tips:

  • Keep it in proportion. Meters are the project. The portal is the part that makes them save water.
  • Name your plan. Both programs want projects that come from planning.
  • Pick metrics you can track. Alerts sent and continuous-flow accounts are easy to pull from the system.
  • Ask for a split quote. Have your vendor separate one-time setup and training from yearly fees. That makes the eligible part easy to see.

Where Fluvio fits

Fluvio is built by DB Utility, a water meter installation company. So Fluvio Resident often goes in with a meter replacement project.

It works with the billing system you already run, with no billing system replacement. Residents see their usage and get leak and high-use alerts. You send notices by email and text in English and Spanish. Residents can text the utility's number with questions ("Text the Town"), with no app needed. Fluvio AI adds a 24/7 AI phone line and SMS.

The same channel can carry your Consumer Confidence Report and lead line notices. See what the 2027 CCR rule changes mean.

Pricing is published per meter per year on our pricing page, so it's simple to put on a grant budget line.

Conclusion

Water meter and AMI grants can pay for more than hardware. Write the resident portal into the meter project as the way the project saves water. In the West, look at WaterSMART Small-Scale Water Efficiency Projects. Everywhere, talk to your state's DWSRF program early. Fund the setup with the project, budget the yearly fees yourself, and plan for federal budget changes.

Fluvio is work order, resident portal, and water-loss software for small and mid-size water utilities, built by DB Utility, a water meter installation company. Unlimited users, no Esri license required, live in weeks. Book a walkthrough at getfluvio.com →