The American Water Charitable Foundation (AWCF) 2026 Water and Environment Grant Program is now closed.

Applications accepted in the following states served by American Water, in addition to its Military Service locations: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Grants awarded to help fund innovative, community-based projects that:

  • improve, restore or protect the watersheds, surface water and/or groundwater supplies
  • promote water conservation
  • improve equitable access to water-based recreation in underserved communities

Qualifications:

  • Applicants must be classified as a 501(c)(3) public charity by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) or K-12 public school, college or university.
  • Projects must be completed within 12 months of the grant being awarded
  • Projects must be located within and benefit American Water’s service areas

Deadline:
Applications accepted between February 2 – March 6, 2026 online at amwater.com/awcfgrants. 

 

 

In 2026, New Jersey American Water in collaboration with the American Water Charitable Foundation provided 10 grants totaling more than $179,000 to the following organizations: 

Camden's Charter School Network
Camden's Charter School Network was awarded $12,000 to expand floating wetland construction and hands-on water monitoring at Tippin's Pond in Pennsauken, benefiting students from Camden through immersive environmental learning. The initiative engages students in freshwater ecology using innovative technology and includes educational field trips to the Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, while helping improve local water quality through nature‑based solutions.

Egg Harbor Township High School
Egg Harbor Township High School was awarded $10,000 to support a student-led coastal resiliency effort through its Oceanography and Environmental Science classes. Students will pre-condition dune grass in the school's greenhouse before planting it along the Ocean City coastline to strengthen dune systems, improve stormwater management and slow saltwater encroachment into freshwater watersheds.

Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space
Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space was awarded $25,000 to support habitat restoration and the creation of a nature-based community play space at Hopewell Borough Park. This project will build on existing native plant efforts at Hopewell Elementary School and along Bedens Brook, replace invasive species with native meadows and wetlands, and improve stormwater absorption within the Raritan River watershed, while engaging residents, volunteers and local students in hands-on conservation efforts.

Great Swamp Watershed Association
Great Swamp Watershed Association was awarded $11,900 to support the installation of a rain garden and an accompanying environmental education program at Paterson School No. 25. The rain garden will help manage stormwater runoff in this urban community while engaging fourth- and fifth-grade students in hands-on lessons about water quality, flooding and watershed health.

Hacklebarney Trout Unlimited Chapter
Hacklebarney Trout Unlimited Chapter was awarded $10,000 to support ongoing restoration efforts along India Brook in the Borough of Mendham. The work will restore riparian corridors, stabilize streambanks and enhance cold‑water trout habitat through native plantings, while engaging community volunteers and students in long-term watershed stewardship.

Hunterdon Land Trust
Hunterdon Land Trust was awarded $10,000 to advance clean water efforts in the Walnut Brook watershed in Raritan Township. Funding will support riparian buffer restoration at the Dvoor Farm preserve through native tree and shrub plantings, paired with community education and outreach focused on reducing runoff and protecting local waterways.

Musconetcong Watershed Association
Musconetcong Watershed Association was awarded $49,404 to assess the impacts of septic systems in PFAS‑impacted areas of the Musconetcong Watershed, with a focus on Bethlehem Township, NJ. The effort will expand groundwater, surface water and septic discharge monitoring in and along the Musconetcong River to provide residents with critical water quality information and inform public outreach, education and future watershed protection strategies.

Raritan Headwaters Association
Raritan Headwaters Association was awarded $15,000 to establish PFAS soil and water baselines across the Upper Raritan River Watershed in Hunterdon, Somerset and Morris counties. The project will generate regulatory-grade data to better understand how PFAS move through soil and surface water, helping protect source water supplies that feed New Jersey's largest reservoirs and support long-term drinking water protection across the region.

Schiff Natural Lands Trust
Schiff Natural Lands Trust was awarded $1,100 to support native tree restoration efforts along streams at the headwaters of the Raritan River. The project will take place at its nature preserve in Mendham Township, replacing diseased beech trees to protect trout streams, improve forest health and enhance watershed resilience.

The Watershed Institute
The Watershed Institute was awarded $35,000 to support its StreamWatch program, strengthening community education and monitoring to address the threat of harmful algal blooms in the Stony Brook–Millstone Watershed in Mercer and Hunterdon counties. The funding will help expand volunteer monitoring and equip communities with the tools and training needed to identify, prevent and respond to water quality risks tied to harmful algal blooms.

To see previous grant recipients: 

 

New Jersey American Water Environmental Grant Program  

Prior to the launch of the American Water Charitable Foundation’s Water and Environment grant program in 2024, New Jersey American Water held an annual Environmental Grant Program for organizations and community groups within its service areas engaged in sustainability projects to improve water source or watershed protection. Established in 2008, the company’s Environmental Grant Program provided more than $471,000 in funding to 56 innovative, community-based environmental projects that improved, restored or protected the watersheds, surface water and groundwater supplies in communities served by New Jersey American Water. 

To see previous grant recipients: