USDA NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program

Federal emergency recovery funding that helps local communities repair watershed damage after floods, fires, and other natural disasters.

EWP is NRCS's emergency recovery program, funding work that relieves imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, and other natural events that impair a watershed. Local sponsors, which must be units of federal, state, local, or tribal government, request assistance and provide the non-federal share. Eligible work includes debris removal, streambank stabilization, and repair of levees and drainage facilities. This is highly relevant to flood-prone communities across the Laurel Highlands, the Ohio River valley, and southern West Virginia, where post-flood recovery funding is often the first money available.