USDA NRCS National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI)

USDA's flagship water quality initiative, concentrating on-farm conservation funding and monitoring in selected small priority watersheds.

NRCS calls NWQI its premier water quality initiative, accelerating voluntary on-farm conservation investments plus focused water quality monitoring and assessment where they deliver the greatest clean water benefit. Rather than spreading assistance thin, NWQI concentrates financial and technical resources in a small number of designated priority watersheds. Priority watershed selections are made through NRCS State Offices and State Technical Committees, which is the practical entry point: a watershed group in PA, OH, or WV can advocate to get its watershed designated, which then unlocks concentrated EQIP-style funding for producers in that drainage.