U.S. Department of Agriculture — Natural Resources Conservation Service · Disaster Resilience · Water & Wastewater
USDA NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP)
Funds emergency recovery measures to safeguard lives and property after natural disasters — debris removal from streams, bank stabilization, dam-breach response, levee repair. Activated by declared disasters.
Program facts
- Typical award
- $100K – $10M
- Non-federal match
- 25% (approximate)
- Audience
- Cities, towns, counties, and tribal governments
- Application window
- Activated by qualifying disaster events; sponsors apply within 60 days.
- Typical prep time
- 2–8 weeks
- Statutory authority
- Section 216, 1950 Flood Control Act; Pub. L. 81-516; IIJA §70402
Catalog entry last verified 2026-05-24 · Verify on the agency page →
Eligibility at a glance
- Cities are eligible applicants.
- Requires an active federal disaster declaration for the area.
Federal share 75% (90% in limited-resource areas). Floodplain-easement track also available. Amounts and timing approximate; verify directly with administering agency.
How Strategic Pursuit scores this program
When you run a city dossier, Strategic Pursuit cross-checks the city's demographics, federal award history, disaster history, and CEJST burden categories against this program's eligibility and strategic-fit signals. You see an explicit eligibility / strategic / competitive grade — backed by source citations — instead of a generic "match" badge.
Planning purposes only. Award ranges, match percentages, and application windows on this page summarize the latest publicly available agency guidance and are approximate. Always verify the binding NOFO on the administering agency's page before applying.