(a)
Loans and grants may be made only for projects for domestic water systems. The department may make reasonable allowance for future water supply needs and may provide for additional capacity when excessive costs would be incurred by later enlargement. The loans and grants may be made for all, or any part, of the cost of constructing, improving, or rehabilitating any system when, in the judgment of the State Department of Health Services, improvement or rehabilitation is necessary to provide pure, wholesome, and potable water in adequate quantity at sufficient pressure for health, cleanliness, and other domestic purposes. No single public agency shall receive grants pursuant to this chapter totaling more than four hundred thousand dollars ($400,000). Loans may be made to provide for the purchase of a water system or the purchase of watershed lands. No loan to an individual supplier shall exceed the sum of five million dollars ($5,000,000), unless the Legislature by an act raises the limit specified in this section.
(b)
Upon receipt of an application for a grant or loan pursuant to this chapter, the department shall propose to the applicant improvements to the applicant’s water development, distribution, and utilization system which will conserve water in a cost-effective manner. These improvements may include, but need not be limited to, leak detection and repair programs, valve repair and replacement, meter calibration and replacement, physical improvements to achieve corrosion control, distribution and installation of water conservation devices and fixtures, and other capital improvements which can be demonstrated to conserve water in a cost-effective manner. The department and applicant may agree to include these capital improvements in the grant or loan. Failure by the applicant to include water conservation capital improvements in the grant or loan application shall not be sufficient cause for the department to refuse to make the grant or loan.