Friends of the Verde River and SRP open third year of water conservation grants for Phoenix Metro and Verde Valley applicants

Friends of the Verde River and Salt River Project have opened applications for the third year of the River Friendly Living Grants Program, backed by $52,000 in SRP funding. Homeowners can apply for up to $5,000, while businesses and organizations are eligible for up to $10,000. The deadline to apply is October 31.

Grant program opens for third consecutive year

What makes this round of funding notable isn’t just the dollar amount — it’s the consistency. Friends of the Verde River and SRP have now committed to this program three years running, and that says something. The River Friendly Living Grants Program has moved well past pilot territory into something that looks a lot more permanent.

SRP is putting in $52,000 this year to support water conservation projects across two regions: the Phoenix Metro area and the Verde Valley. That geographic spread matters, because it means urban homeowners dealing with thirsty lawns and rural organizations working near the Verde River itself can both compete for the same pool of funding.

Applicants must be located in the Phoenix Metro or Verde Valley areas, and projects have to benefit a home, a business, or a water ecosystem like the Verde River.

The grant tiers are straightforward. Homeowners can apply for up to $5,000; businesses and organizations can go up to $10,000. The window closes October 31, so if you’re eligible, don’t sit on it.

Priority project categories and eligibility criteria

SRP has flagged irrigation efficiency improvements, lawn removal, and commercial water conservation upgrades as funding priorities. These categories aren’t random — they reflect where the biggest water-saving opportunities tend to exist in Arizona’s desert communities.

The program isn’t locked into those options, though. According to the program details, diverse water stewardship projects will also be considered. So if your idea doesn’t fit neatly into one of those buckets, it might still be worth submitting an application.

Eligibility is open to both residential and commercial or organizational applicants. The key requirement is that projects must deliver a real benefit — to a home, a business, or a water ecosystem like the Verde River itself. Projects tied to the health of the river system seem to align most closely with what this program is actually trying to accomplish.

Program has saved more than 81 million gallons over two years

The numbers from the first two years are hard to ignore. Those grant cycles saved more than 81 million gallons of water combined — not a rounding error, but a meaningful volume produced by dozens of real projects carried out by homeowners, businesses, and community organizations across the region.

David Gressly, Development Director of Friends of the Verde River, pointed directly to the SRP partnership as the reason the program has been able to grow. “This funding has greatly increased the capacity of our community to complete water conservation projects,” he said. Without that outside support, a lot of those 81 million gallons might never have been saved.

The partnership model itself is worth paying attention to. Friends of the Verde River brings local knowledge and community relationships, while SRP contributes financial resources and institutional reach. Neither organization could have pulled this off as effectively on its own — and two years of documented results explain why SRP came back for a third round. Conservation programs often struggle to prove impact fast enough to justify continued investment. This one has done exactly that.

Broader context: SRP’s 5-billion-gallon conservation goal

The River Friendly Living Grants Program doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s one piece of SRP’s larger goal to conserve 5 billion gallons of water by 2035 through collaborative programs and partnerships — a target that gives the grant program a clear purpose within a much bigger strategic picture.

SRP’s scale helps put the stakes in perspective. The utility serves approximately 2.5 million Valley residents, delivering around 260 billion gallons of water annually. It manages a 13,000-square-mile watershed that includes an extensive reservoir system, wells, irrigation laterals, and 131 miles of canals. At that scale, conservation requires action on many fronts simultaneously.

Elvy Barton, SRP’s Senior Manager of Water and Forest Sustainability, described the program’s role plainly: “Through our partnership with Friends of the Verde River, we’re helping residents, businesses, and organizations turn practical water-saving ideas into action, benefitting both local communities and the long-term resilience of our rivers.”

That framing — practical ideas turned into action — is a useful way to understand what these grants are actually for. They don’t fund research or planning. They back real projects with measurable outcomes.

What you need to know

The River Friendly Living Grants Program is open for its third year, with $52,000 in SRP funding available. Homeowners can apply for up to $5,000; businesses and organizations can apply for up to $10,000. Irrigation efficiency, lawn removal, and commercial water conservation upgrades are the stated priorities, though other water stewardship projects will also be considered.

Applicants must be located in the Phoenix Metro or Verde Valley areas, and projects have to benefit a home, a business, or a water ecosystem like the Verde River. The application deadline is October 31. Across the program’s first two years, participating projects saved more than 81 million gallons of water combined. For eligibility details and to apply, head to the River Friendly Living Grants Program page directly.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.