Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grants
The EPA’s Healthy Watersheds Program supports states and other partners working to implement proactive, holistic approaches to protect healthy waters and watersheds. Today, healthy watersheds protection plays an increasingly critical role in achieving the Clean Water Act objective to restore and maintain the integrity of the Nation’s waters. The EPA established the Healthy Watersheds Consortium (HWC) Grant Program to accelerate and expand the strategic protection of healthy watersheds, including freshwater, estuarine, and marine ecosystems, across the United States.
2024 HWC Grant Request for Applications:
The EPA is soliciting applications from eligible applicants to manage the HWC Grant Program through a cooperative agreement and subsequent subawards. The EPA anticipates awarding one cooperative agreement under this announcement for approximately $2,100,000, depending on Agency funding levels and other applicable considerations. The cooperative agreement is anticipated to be incrementally funded at an average of approximately $350,000 per year over a six-year project period. Please note that applicants must submit applications via Grants.gov; the grants.gov information page for this grant can be found here.
FY2024 HWC Grant Request for Applications (pdf)
FY2024 HWC Grant Frequently Asked Questions (pdf)
HWC Grant Information Session Webinar Slides (pdf)
Key Dates:
- March 28, 2024: Information Session Webinar #1. To watch the recording of this webinar, please visit: https://youtu.be/tb7SJ669lhs
- April 9, 2024: Information Session Webinar #2.
- April 26, 2024: Questions about this RFA must be submitted in writing via e-mail to [email protected] by April 26, 2024. Written responses will be posted on EPA’s website at https://www.epa.gov/hwp/healthy-watersheds-consortium-grants.
- May 10, 2024: *Application Deadline* All applications must be received by electronic submission through Grants.gov by 11:59 P.M. EDT, May 10, 2024, in order to be considered for funding. Late applications will not be considered for funding.
Past HWC Grant Information:
The EPA launched the HWC Grant Program in 2015 through a cooperative agreement with the US Endowment for Forestry & Communities and funding support from the US Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service. The HWC Grant Program awarded approximately $11 million to a total of 56 subawards across approximately 25 states and 9 EPA regions. These projects demonstrated an array of protection techniques and approaches, including implementing watershed protection plans, building organizational and social infrastructure needed for long-term protection efforts, and employing innovative, new strategies for achieving watershed protection goals. In total, these projects supported by the HWC Grant Program contributed to the protection of more than 1 million land acres and more than 5,100 stream miles, primarily via land conservation and enhanced regulatory protections.
Project summary information: HWCG Project Summaries 2016 - 2019 (pdf)
For more details, see the report published by the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities or visit their HWC webpage.