- Reclamation
- WaterSMART
- WaterSMART Grants
- Environmental Water Resources Projects
Environmental Water Resources Projects
WaterSMART Environmental Water Resources Projects is a category of funding to support projects focused on environmental benefits and that have been developed as part of a collaborative process to help carry out an established strategy to increase the reliability of water resources.
Applicants are invited to leverage their money and resources by cost sharing with Reclamation on Environmental Water Resources Projects, including water conservation and efficiency projects that result in quantifiable and sustained water savings and benefit ecological values or watershed health; water management or infrastructure improvements to benefit ecological values or watershed health; and watershed restoration projects benefitting ecological values or watershed health that have a nexus to water resources or water resources management.
New for FY 2023: Section 40907 of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law includes additional authority for Reclamation to provide funding for multi-benefit projects that improve watershed health. Section 40907 is being implemented through WaterSMART Environmental Water Resources Projects, and additional details will be contained in the FY23 funding opportunity.
Documents
Contacts
For additional information on WaterSMART Environmental Water Resources Projects, please contact Ms. Avra Morgan at 303-445-2906 or aomorgan@usbr.gov; or contact Ms. Robin Graber at 303-445-2764 or rgraber@usbr.gov.
You may complete this form to receive WaterSMART program notification from the Bureau of Reclamation.
Announcements
-
FY23 Environmental Water Resources Projects Webinar
On January 24, 2023, the Bureau of Reclamation published a funding opportunity for the WaterSMART Environmental Water Resources Projects (EWRP). The funding opportunity supports water conservation, water management, and restoration projects that result in significant benefit to the ecosystem or watershed health. The projects must also be part of a collaborative process to increase water resource reliability.
The Bureau of Reclamation hosted a webinar on February 6, 2023 to discuss eligible applicants and project types, program requirements, and the evaluation criteria for the Environmental Water Resources Projects funding opportunity and the new Aquatic Ecosystems Restoration Program. Click here to watch a recording of the webinar.
If you have questions regarding applicant and project eligibility, program requirements, or the evaluation criteria for the Environmental Water Resources Projects, click here and select Environmental Water Resource Projects Inquiry to schedule a time to talk with the program coordinators.
-
Biden-Harris Administration makes $80 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds available for projects that conserve water and improve watershed health
The Bureau of Reclamation is making approximately $80 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law available for water conservation, water management and restoration projects that will result in significant benefits to ecosystem or watershed health. Read More → -
President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to Help Safeguard Water Supplies in 12 States and Puerto Rico
The Department of the Interior today announced a $36.1 million investment, including $26.7 million in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds, to safeguard local water supplies in the wake of record drought across the West. Twenty-seven projects in 12 states and the first-ever in Puerto Rico will be awarded funding to advance quantifiable and sustained water savings by protecting watersheds impacted by wildland fire, restoring aquatic habitats and stream beds, and advancing other environmental restoration projects to mitigate drought-related impacts. Read More →
-
Webinar on WaterSMART Water and Energy Efficiency Grants Drought Resiliency Projects, and Environmental Water Resources Projects
The Bureau of Reclamation hosted a webinar on August 27, 2021 to discuss eligible applicants and project types, program requirements, and the evaluation criteria for three recently announced Funding Opportunities: Water and Energy Efficiency Grants (WEEG), Drought Resiliency Projects (DRP), and Environmental Water Resources Projects (EWRP).
Download PowerPoint slides -
Reclamation invests in grants to increase water sustainability in the West
Drought and the impacts of climate change are having a significant effect on the Western United States. These impacts include reductions to water resource needs of agriculture, cities and the environment. The three WaterSMART grant opportunities — Drought Resiliency Projects, Water and Energy Efficiency Grants and the new Environmental Water Resources Projects — will help communities throughout the West by increasing water supply sustainability and drought resiliency. Read More →.
