United States Department of Agriculture

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. 

February 2020
The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s Natural 

Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) administers 

the Emergency Watershed 

Protection Program 

(EWPP) which responds to 

emergencies created by 

natural disasters. It is not 

necessary for a national 

emergency to be declared 

for an area to be eligible for 

assistance.

The EWP Program is a recovery effort 

aimed at relieving imminent hazards 

to life and property caused by floods, 

fires, windstorms, and other natural 

disasters. All projects undertaken, 

except for the purchase of floodplain 

easements, must have a project sponsor. 

NRCS may bear up to 75 percent of the 

eligible construction cost of emergency 

measures (90 percent within limitedresource areas as identified by the U.S. 

Census data). The remaining costs must 

come from local sources and can be 

in the form of cash or in-kind services. 

Funding for the program is provided 

through congressional appropriations.

Type of Work Authorized

EWP is designed for installation of 

recovery measures to safeguard life and 

property as a result of a natural disaster. 

Threats that the EWP Program addresses 

are termed watershed impairments. 

These include, but are not limited to:

• debris-clogged waterways,

• unstable streambanks,

• severe erosion jeopardizing public 

infrastructure

• wind-borne debris removal, and

• damaged upland sites stripped of 

protective vegetation by fire or 

drought.

Stabilized streambank along main access road in Charleston, Mississippi. 

Tornado Devastation

Disaster 

Assistance 

Programs and 

services available 

through the 

Natural 

Resources 

Conservation 

Service
The U.S. Department of 

Agriculture’s Natural 

Resources Conservation 

Service (NRCS) administers 

the Emergency Watershed 

Protection Program 

(EWPP) which responds to 

emergencies created by 

natural disasters. It is not 

necessary for a national 

emergency to be declared 

for an area to be eligible for 

assistance.

The EWP Program is a recovery effort 

aimed at relieving imminent hazards 

to life and property caused by floods, 

fires, windstorms, and other natural 

disasters. All projects undertaken, 

except for the purchase of floodplain 

easements, must have a project sponsor. 

NRCS may bear up to 75 percent of the 

eligible construction cost of emergency 

measures (90 percent within limitedresource areas as identified by the U.S. 

Census data). The remaining costs must 

come from local sources and can be 

in the form of cash or in-kind services. 

Funding for the program is provided 

through congressional appropriations.

Type of Work Authorized

EWP is designed for installation of 

recovery measures to safeguard life and 

property as a result of a natural disaster. 

Threats that the EWP Program addresses 

are termed watershed impairments. 

These include, but are not limited to:

• debris-clogged waterways,

• unstable streambanks,

• severe erosion jeopardizing public 

infrastructure

• wind-borne debris removal, and

• damaged upland sites stripped of 

protective vegetation by fire or 

drought.

Stabilized streambank along main access road in Charleston, Mississippi. 

Tornado Devastation

Disaster 

Assistance 

Programs and 

services available 

through the 

Natural 

Resources 

Conservation 

Service
United States Department of Agriculture

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender. 

February 2020