Jennifer Martin, 202-720-8188

**USDA AWARDS MORE THAN \$14 MILLION IN**

**WATER RESOURCES GRANTS**

The USDA is awarding more than \$14 million in grants to universities
and private enterprises nationwide to address water supply and water
quality issues by integrating applied research, classroom education and
outreach to farmers, ranchers and homeowners. The grants are
administered by the USDA's Cooperative State Research, Education and
Extension Service (CSREES). The following institutions received grants:

National Integrated Water Quality Program

1.  **Tennessee State University**, \$320,000. "Facilitation of 1890
    Institutions' Water Resource Education, Extension and Research
    Efforts."

2.  **University of Nebraska-Lincoln**, \$300,000. "A National Learning
    Center for Animal Agricultural Water Quality Issues."

3.  **University of Michigan-Ann Arbor**, \$300,000. "Agriculture, Land
    Use and Water Quality Reporting and Evaluation by Great Lakes Radio
    Consortium."

4.  **Rutgers Cooperative Extension**, \$550,000. "Regional Water
    Quality Coordination Project -- A Proposal for Regional Coordination
    within USEPA Region 2."

5.  **State University of New York College at Brockport**, \$590,000.
    "Experimental Manipulation of Entire Watersheds through BMPs:
    Nutrient Fluxes, Fate, Transport and Biotic Responses."

6.  **Ohio State University**, \$590,000. "Landscape Scale Disturbances
    in an Agroecosystem: Impacts on Aquatic and Riparian Environments in
    the Sugar Creek Watershed, Ohio."

7.  **Iowa State University**, \$590,000. "Water Resource Degradation in
    the Boone Watershed: Integrating Stakeholder Knowledge and
    Preferences with Economic and Watershed Models."

8.  **University of Missouri**, \$215,000. "Barriers to Adoption of
    Nutrient Managgement Strategies by Animal Feeding Operations."

9.  **Kansas State University**, \$585,000. "Measuring Success of a TMDL
    Implementation Plan: Land, Stream and Economic Responses to Targeted
    Stakeholder Actions."

10. **University of Florida**, \$238,000. "Improving Water Quality at
    the Watershed Level by Targeting High Return Stakeholders."

11. **Purdue University**, \$350,000. "EPINet -- Environmental Pathogen
    Information Network."

12. **Colorado State University**, \$592,000. "Northern Plains and
    Mountains -- Region VIII."

13. **Texas A&M University**, \$1,251,000. "Southern Region (Regions IV
    and VI)."

14. **Iowa State University**, \$939,312. "Heartland Region -- Region
    VII."

15. **University of Wisconsin**, \$608,000. "Great Lakes -- Region V."

16. **University of Idaho**, \$592,000. "Pacific Northwest -- Region X."

17. **University of Rhode Island**, \$613,000. "Northeast -- Region I."

18. **University of Maryland**, \$609,000. "Mid-Atlantic -- Region III."

19. **University of Arizona**, \$575,000. "Southwest and Islands --
    Region IX."

National Research Initiative (NRI) Watershed Processes and Water
Resources Program

1.  **University of Maryland**, \$493,000. "Effects of Agricultural
    Conservation Practices on Nitrate Losses from Croplands of the
    Choptank River Basin."

2.  **University of Illinois -- Urbana-Champaign**, \$493,000.
    "Antibiotic Resistance Genes and Residues in Water and Soil in Close
    Proximity to Swine Production Facilities."

3.  **Cornell University**, \$490,000. "Visualization and Quantification
    of Bacterial Transport in Sand Under Steady and Transient Flow."

4.  **Oregon State University**, \$465,000. "Impacts of Irrigation
    Diversions on River Ecosystems."

5.  **USDA-Agricultural Research Service**, \$448,000. "The Role of
    Ponds in Reducing the Threat of Pathogen Contamination from
    Livestock in Agricultural Watersheds."

6.  **New Mexico State University**, \$441,000. "Effects of Ditch and
    Field Irrigation Seepage on Rio Grande Flow."

7.  **University of Mississippi**, \$330,000. "Quantifying the
    Importance of Lateral Subsurface Flow on Sediment Load to Streams."

8.  **Eco-metrics, Inc.**, \$325,000. "River Ecosystem Resilience
    Synergies of Excess Sediment and Nitrogen: Degraded Hyporheic
    Dynamics and Compromised River Ecosystem Resilience."

9.  **University of Alaska Southeast**, \$295,000. "Salmon and Wetland
    Influences on Carbon and Nutrient Cycling in Forested Watersheds."

10. **Ohio State University**, \$176,000. "Nitrogen Removal in
    Agricultural Watersheds: Ecological Interactions Associated with
    Forested and Agricultural Headwater Streams."

11. **Iowa State University**, \$115,000. "Influence of Landscape --
    Weather Interactions on Biological Water Quality in Agricultural
    Watersheds."

12. **University of Rhode Island**, \$95,000. "Evaluating In-Stream
    Denitrification: Pilot Studies and Site Characterization."

13. **State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and
    Forestry**, \$87,000. "Improving the Estimation of Low Stream Flow
    Statistics at Ungauged River Sites."

14. **Montclair State University** (New Jersey), \$47,000. "Is
    Urbanization of Rural Water-Supply Watershed a Threat to Water
    Availability During Dry Weather in New Jersey? A Historical,
    Empirical Approach."