LIHWAP (Low Income Household Water Assistance Program) — funding ENDED

What this actually is

LIHWAP paid water and wastewater bills for low-income households and, over its life, reached more than 1.5 million of them. It is finished: HHS states plainly that funding is no longer available and that households cannot receive LIHWAP benefits at this time. It is listed here so you do not chase it — it is still widely referenced online and a water shutoff is exactly the emergency that makes people click the first promising link. Where to go instead, per HHS's own redirect: energyhelp.us for LIHEAP (which in some states can help with water-heating-related energy costs), HHS's water assistance resources guide for local water-bill and well/septic help, and 211. Many individual water utilities also run their own hardship funds and payment plans that are never advertised — ask the utility directly for its customer assistance program before assuming there is nothing.

Who qualifies, and what trips people up

No current federal eligibility; the program is not accepting households. Note that HHS attaches the same warning it gives for LIHEAP: LIHWAP never provided direct grants to individuals and never charged a fee for a benefit, so any offer of a LIHWAP grant is fraudulent. State and local water assistance that still exists sets its own rules and is usually administered by the utility or a community action agency.