EPA Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program

A national subaward program for proactive protection of already-healthy watersheds, run through a cooperative agreement intermediary rather than applied for directly at EPA.

EPA created the Healthy Watersheds Consortium Grant Program in 2015 to accelerate the strategic protection of watersheds that are still in good condition, on the logic that keeping a healthy watershed healthy costs far less than restoring a degraded one. The program is administered through a cooperative agreement with an intermediary, historically the U.S. Endowment for Forestry and Communities, which then runs competitive subaward rounds open to nonprofits, land trusts, conservation districts, states, and tribes. Through 2024 the program had awarded roughly $11 million across 56 subawards in about 25 states and 9 EPA regions, contributing to protection of more than 1 million acres and more than 5,100 stream miles, mostly through land conservation and strengthened regulatory protections. Funded work has included implementing watershed protection plans, building the organizational and social infrastructure that long-term protection requires, and testing new protection strategies. The most recent cooperative agreement announcement on EPA's page is the FY2024 RFA, awarding roughly $2.1 million incrementally over a six-year project period. Applicants seeking a subaward should watch the intermediary's announcements rather than grants.gov.