Agricultural Water Enhancement Program

The purpose of this notice is to inform agricultural producers of the availability of AWEP funds and to solicit proposals from potential partners who seek to enter into partnership agreements with the NRCS Chief to promote the conservation of ground and surface water and the improvement of water quality. Proposals are accepted from all 50 States, the Caribbean Area (Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands), and the Pacific Islands Area (Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands). Overview: The Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) is a voluntary conservation program that provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers to implement agricultural water enhancement activities on agricultural land for the purposes of conserving surface and ground water and improving water quality, or both. As part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), AWEP operates through contracts with producers to plan and implement conservation practices to conserve ground and surface water and improve water quality in project areas established through partnership agreements. Producers may participate individually in AWEP, or collectively through a partnership project. For example, the role of the partner may be to facilitate the submission of producers’ applications, or it may be to provide additional technical or financial assistance to participating agricultural producers. AWEP funding will be delivered to producers; no AWEP funding may be used to cover the administrative expenses of partners. Administrative activities include any indirect or direct costs relating to submitting or implementing the project proposal.