Water Efficiency and Quality:
Infrastructure Projects
Request for information
June 2025
Google aims to replenish more water than we consume by 2030 and help improve water quality and ecosystem health in the communities where we operate. We do this by supporting partners to implement projects that benefit local watersheds, ranging from nature-based solutions to water-saving technologies to infrastructure improvements. We are specifically looking for partners to help expand our impact by implementing infrastructure projects that increase water efficiency or quality in select U.S. watersheds.
Opportunity
This Water Efficiency and Quality: Infrastructure Projects — Request for Information (RFI) seeks to identify shovel-ready and early-concept water infrastructure projects eligible for co-funding that could be under construction by 2028 to support our water replenishment goals. Any project that conserves, restores, or keeps water in the watershed that would otherwise be lost, flow out of the watershed, or be inaccessible due to water quality concerns may be considered “replenishment.” Project impacts will be evaluated on the basis of volumetric benefits (in millions of gallons per year [MGY]) following the Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA) Guidance as the industry standard, with preference given to projects above 100 MGY.
Selected projects will be invited to submit additional information through a Request for Proposal (RFP) to be considered for corporate funding. Google will not own any infrastructure assets or water rights; our intention is to claim the proportional volumetric water benefit based on cost share. Implementing partners are expected to maintain and operate the project as intended to achieve the anticipated water benefits for the agreed-upon project duration, typically at least 10 years, and provide a brief annual report confirming the project status.
Desired outcomes: Through this RFI, Google seeks to identify partners and projects that can advance water saving or quality in one or more of the following ways:
- Reduce finished water loss
- Improve water use efficiency
- Replenish groundwater and recharge aquifers
- Reuse or recycle treated wastewater
- Capture, attenuate, or treat stormwater flows
RFI timeline
- Round 1 RFI submissions due: 5:00 p.m. PST, September 30, 2025*
- Select candidates receive RFP: October 31, 2025
*Proposals submitted after the September 30, 2025, deadline will be considered in subsequent RFP rounds.
Eligibility
Focal geography: The target watersheds in North America are shown in the map below.
Priority locations and watersheds**
**Projects outside of these boundaries may also be considered if they have a hydrologic interconnection to the priority watersheds (e.g., through inter-basin transfers or overlapping groundwater basins). Please refer to the Resources section below to request clarification.
Eligible organizations: Google will consider potential projects with any organization with the capacity to implement voluntary water infrastructure projects within the focal geography. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: water utilities and water agencies; municipal governments; water conservation districts; flood control districts; state agencies; Native American Tribes; non-profit organizations; and basin collaboratives. Eligible organizations must be able to accept corporate funding.
Projects designed to meet or mitigate legal or regulatory compliance obligations or that are tied to ongoing legal or regulatory action are not eligible for funding under this RFI.
Funding parameters: scale, cost, and duration
This RFI will consider projects that meet the following parameters:
- Timeline: Projects must be constructed and operational by 2030.
- Duration: Projects must provide volumetric water benefits through 2030, at a minimum.
- Volumetric benefits: Projects should result in at least 100 Million Gallons per Year (MGY) of quantifiable water replenished to a target watershed.
- Unit cost: This RFI seeks to identify projects (or project elements) that can generate volumetric benefits below $12,000 per MGY. Cost per MGY is a function of total project expenditures, including implementation, operations, and reporting, divided by annual volumetric benefits in MGY.
- Funding levels: Available funding per project is in the range of $350,000 to $6 million. Funding can be used for upfront capital expenditures, operation and maintenance costs, and annual reporting. Funding under this RFI may be combined with other sources of funding.
How to respond
All information must be submitted via the Water Efficiency and Quality: Infrastructure Projects — RFI Online Form
Responses should include the following:
- Section 1: Organizational information (required)
- Section 2: Project proposal (some questions required)
For programmatic approaches across multiple locations within a single major basin shown on the Priority Locations & Watersheds map, please submit a single RFI response.
For programmatic approaches across multiple locations and more than one of the major basins shown on the Priority Locations & Watersheds map, please submit a different response for each proposed major basin.
Resources
Organizations interested in responding to this RFI are encouraged to:
- Review Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA): A Method for Implementing and Valuing Water Stewardship Activities for calculation methodologies.
- Survey the 2025 Google Water Stewardship Project Portfolio to see example projects.
- Review Volumetric Water Benefit Accounting (VWBA): A Practical Guide to Implementing Water Replenishment Targets for additional guidance.
If you have any questions, please email water-RFI@google.com.