Supporting a diverse and growing group of community and nonprofit partners, the Water Foundation finds and implements water strategies that meet the moment and the needs of communities across the country. Whether it’s clean water protections in California, drought mitigation in New Mexico, public funding for water infrastructure in Texas, or climate resiliency throughout the U.S., the Water Foundation is your strategic partner to protect and preserve our most vital shared resource.
To create the lasting changes needed for water and all those who depend on it, the Water Foundation is focused on three key actions: developing strong policies, ensuring successful implementation, and building public support. Throughout it all, we collaborate closely with our partners to mobilize the right resources and elevate stories that make water a winning issue.
Learn more about our work by exploring our projects, programs, and partners.
As floods, droughts, and wildfires become more widespread and more severe, existing water problems are turning into full-blown crises.
We have come a long way in how we protect our water since the 1970s, but millions of people in the U.S. still lack access to safe, clean drinking water. Small and isolated systems — like those found in rural or underinvested communities — are especially at risk, but even neighborhoods with updated infrastructure struggle. Whether it’s threatened by contaminants like PFAS or systems going down due to major storms, reliable, clean, and accessible drinking water isn’t a guarantee no matter where you live.
For many American communities, water out of the tap costs a fraction of alternative options like bottled water. That said, nearly 19 million households can’t afford the water they need to drink, cook, and bathe, and it’s not just our neighbors who are struggling: The utilities that manage and operate our water supply often can’t keep up with necessary infrastructure updates. With water rates rising faster than inflation, we work with partners and municipalities to keep affordable water flowing in every home and business.
Groundwater provides many communities and farms with essential, drought-proof water supplies. Overpumping and pollution put this vital resource at risk, leading to concerns for economies, ecosystems, and families. Sustainable solutions are needed to manage groundwater more effectively for the businesses, communities, and natural areas that depend on it.
From the Columbia and Snake to the Rio Grande and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, rivers and wetlands are the freshwater paths that connect people and nature across the country. Each sustains communities, agriculture, and ecosystems, but decades of overuse, pollution, and climate stress have taken a toll. We work to restore these lifelines, protect the water that runs through them, and ensure rivers and wetlands thrive for generations to come.
From drinking water to stormwater and everything in between, Urban One Water is the holistic approach to managing all water resources. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of a city’s water cycle with the goal of sustainably meeting the needs of both the community and the environment.
Learn MoreHealthy communities are built on effective wastewater management and treatment systems. Sewage is a part of everyday life, so how we manage it and ensure it stays out of our water needs to be, too. Aging infrastructure can send untreated wastewater into nearby waterways, and heavy rains can flood water treatment systems, flushing raw sewage into the lakes or rivers, threatening public health. Stronger safeguards and proactive planning can help prevent contamination and protect the water we all rely on.
Texas Wellspring provides sustained funding to financially support, strengthen, and grow a network of organizations addressing systemic water issues that affect Texas communities and ecosystems. Wellspring encourages collaboration and knowledge sharing between funders and those doing the work on the ground.
Learn MoreWater Table is a national funder collaborative housed at the Water Foundation. It brings philanthropic partners together, moving money toward greater impact by aligning strategies, deepening learning, and scaling solutions that make water systems more equitable, sustainable, and resilient.
Learn MoreWater Solutions Fund pools and aligns philanthropic resources and works with the field to maximize the ecological and equity benefits of federal funding for water. It seeks to transform how our nation’s water resources and systems are managed and who they serve in ways that advance environmental, health, justice, and climate goals. It provides partners with holistic support to respond to urgent needs and build for long-term impact.
The Water Foundation launched its inaugural Capacity Building Program in 2023. Seeking to strengthen the capacity of our grantee partners, invest in their water advocacy, and build a stronger field in the long term, the Water Foundation administered a series of small grants to 29 eligible grantees. Although this program sunset in 2025, the Water Foundation continues to explore other ways to provide this kind of critical backbone support to grantee partners.