City of Hot Springs (CHS) water customers can apply for up to $2,000 in payment assistance through the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP).

The CHS Utilities and Utility Billing Services departments registered the City of Hot Springs to be a participating vendor in the LIHWAP program.

Residents can apply for the program at https://arkansaslihwap.com. Customers who receive benefits from LIHEAP, SNAP, SSI, and TANF automatically qualify for LIHWAP benefits. Arkansas is also using the highest allowable income for eligibility. The annual income threshold for a one-person household is $22,303; for a four-person household is $42,891; and for households with seven or more is $59,460.

LIHWAP helps qualifying Arkansas residents with a one-time payment to help alleviate their residential water and wastewater past-due bills. Administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Arkansas Energy Office, this free, federally-funded program offers up to $2,000 to help low?income households. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 and the American Rescue Plan of 2021 appropriated funds for LIHWAP, with $13.1 million allocated for Arkansas. There is no permanent funding for the program, and DHHS must disperse all the funds by Sept. 30, 2023.

DHHS’ number one goal for the program is to ensure that households that receive assistance have access to water services so they can stay healthy in their own homes. The top three priorities are restoration of disconnected services, preventing the risk of disconnection and to provide relief for households struggling to pay their bills. Payments go directly to participating water utilities.