USDA NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

USDA's partnership-based conservation funding program. Funds multi-year, landscape-scale conservation projects led by partner organizations (watershed groups, conservation districts, NGOs) working with NRCS to deliver coordinated impact.

The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) is the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service's premier partner-led, landscape-scale conservation funding program. Unlike EQIP and CSP, which work directly with individual farmers, RCPP funds partnerships — watershed groups, conservation districts, land trusts, universities, and tribes that organize coordinated conservation work across a defined geography or resource concern.Eligible activities include large-scale water quality improvement, source water protection, wetland restoration, climate-smart agriculture, soil health initiatives, and multi-county watershed restoration. Awards are typically multi-million-dollar, multi-year agreements; the lead partner administers the funding and brings in technical assistance, outreach, and project management while NRCS provides farmer contracting and technical practices through EQIP, CSP, and ACEP overlays.The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act significantly expanded RCPP, with Pennsylvania-relevant rounds funding Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration, Ohio River basin water quality, and AMD-impacted headwaters. For an organization like H2O Network, RCPP is the right vehicle for a regional, multi-member, multi-year conservation initiative — and it builds significant institutional capacity along the way.