Browse Ambrook’s collection of funding programs by U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR)

For more information regarding the Water Conservation Field Services Program, please contact Sheri Looper. 

The program is administered locally by regional Bureau of Reclamation offices, and each region issues its own funding notice. Find current opportunities on Grants.gov under Assistance Listing 15.530.

Leah Meeks

Darion Mayhorn

Ken Isakson

Tina Mullis

Sue Stiles

Gary McRae

Jeff Painter

Sheryl Looper

Marlena Lanini

Sheri Looper

The Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP) was established by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1996 to&#x2004;proactively encourage water conservation in the operations of recipients of water from Federal water projects and to assist agricultural and urban water districts in preparing and implementing water conservation plans in accordance with the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. The WCFSP is managed by each of Reclamation's regional offices and implemented at the local level through Reclamation's area offices to address Reclamation-wide water conservation priorities and to meet local goals. Funding is used to make cost-shared financial assistance available on a competitive basis at the area and regional office levels, as well as for technical assistance from Reclamation staff. Funding may be used to develop water conservation plans, identify water management improvements through System Optimization Reviews, design water management improvements, and to improve application of water conservation technologies through demonstration activities.


Technical Assistance:

Technical assistance involves water districts and other entities working directly with Reclamation staff to address water management issues. Technical assistance includes water conservation planning for improved canal operation and diversion works, improved or innovative water measurement, delivery, distribution, and urban conservation retrofit programs.


Financial Assistance:

Financial assistance is provided through a cost-share grant process, with funding areas focused on water management planning. Current funding opportunities are posted on Grants.gov (Assistance Listing 15.530); check the program page and your regional Reclamation office for the latest solicitation.

- Develop or Update Water Management and Conservation Plan

- System Optimization Review (SOR): assesses the potential for water management improvements and identifies a plan of action to enhance water management (may include SCADA and automation to reduce spills, over-deliveries, and seepage).

- Design of Water Management Improvements: funds the design of identified improvement projects (e.g., pipelines, canal lining, water measurement structures) following prior planning efforts. Further engineering and construction may be eligible under WaterSMART Grants.

- Demonstration of Conservation Technologies: supports demonstration of new or innovative technologies (e.g., improved water measurement, automation and telemetry, approaches to minimizing canal/ditch seepage, on-farm irrigation management, low water-usage landscape).



The Water Conservation Field Services Program (WCFSP) was established by the Bureau of Reclamation in 1996 to proactively encourage water conservation in the operations of recipients of water from Federal water projects and to assist agricultural and urban water districts in preparing and implementing water conservation plans in accordance with the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. The WCFSP is managed by each of Reclamation's regional offices and implemented at the local level through Reclamation's area offices to address Reclamation-wide water conservation priorities and to meet local goals. Funding is used to make cost-shared financial assistance available on a competitive basis at the area and regional office levels, as well as for technical assistance from Reclamation staff. Funding may be used to develop water conservation plans, identify water management improvements through System Optimization Reviews, design water management improvements, and to improve application of water conservation technologies through demonstration activities.

Technical Assistance:
Technical assistance involves water districts and other entities working directly with Reclamation staff to address water management issues. Technical assistance includes water conservation planning for improved canal operation and diversion works, improved or innovative water measurement, delivery, distribution, and urban conservation retrofit programs.

Financial Assistance:
Financial assistance is provided through a cost-share grant process, with funding areas focused on water management planning. Current funding opportunities are posted on Grants.gov (Assistance Listing 15.530); check the program page and your regional Reclamation office for the latest solicitation.
- Develop or Update Water Management and Conservation Plan
- System Optimization Review (SOR): assesses the potential for water management improvements and identifies a plan of action to enhance water management (may include SCADA and automation to reduce spills, over-deliveries, and seepage).
- Design of Water Management Improvements: funds the design of identified improvement projects (e.g., pipelines, canal lining, water measurement structures) following prior planning efforts. Further engineering and construction may be eligible under WaterSMART Grants.
- Demonstration of Conservation Technologies: supports demonstration of new or innovative technologies (e.g., improved water measurement, automation and telemetry, approaches to minimizing canal/ditch seepage, on-farm irrigation management, low water-usage landscape).

- States, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, or other organizations with water or power delivery authority.
- Applicants must be located in a Bureau of Reclamation region that offers the program (Columbia-Pacific Northwest, Lower Colorado Basin, or Upper Colorado Basin); the California-Great Basin and Missouri Basin regions do not offer it.
- Applicants must be located within the area covered by the regional funding notice they apply under.
- The program serves recipients of water from Federal Reclamation projects, including agricultural and urban water districts.
- The proposed activity must be on a Reclamation project or in an area with a defined relationship to a Reclamation project.
- Applicants must cost-share at least 50 percent of total project costs.
- Federal government entities, institutions of higher education, individuals, and 501(c)(6) organizations are not eligible.

A payment that requires some percentage of matching contributions by the recipient.

Cost Share

A lump sum of money for a specific purpose that does not need to be paid back.

Grant

Air Quality

Carbon Capture

Certification

High Tunnel

Landscape

Regenerative

Soil Health

Wildlife & Pollinator Habitat

Irrigation

Water Quality

Waterway Protection

Wetland Conservation

HVAC

Lighting

Repairs

Certified Organic

Certified Grassfed

Cover Crops

Reduced Tillage

Water Management

Infrastructure

Cost-shared, competitive financial assistance plus free technical assistance from Reclamation staff. The program page publishes no rate or ceiling of its own: "Funding is used to make cost-shared financial assistance available on a competitive basis at the area and regional office levels, as well as for technical assistance from Reclamation staff."

The numbers live in each regional office's annual Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov (Assistance Listing 15.530), and they differ by region and year. Recent WCFSP notices there have posted per-award ceilings between $50,000 and $100,000 with cost sharing required — FY2025 (R25AS00022) listed an award ceiling of $100,000 against $500,000 in estimated total program funding, while FY2024 (R24AS00145) listed a $50,000 ceiling against $250,000. Because the ceiling and the cost-share split are set regionally, read the live NOFO for your region rather than assuming either figure.

What the money can pay for: developing or updating a Water Management and Conservation Plan; a System Optimization Review; design of identified water management improvements (pipelines, canal lining, measurement structures); and demonstration of conservation technologies. Engineering and construction generally fall to WaterSMART Grants instead.

Two eligibility facts that decide whether this is even available to you: assistance is aimed at districts and entities receiving water from Federal Reclamation projects, and "California-Great Basin and Missouri Basin do not offer a WCFSP." Live regional coordinators are Columbia-Pacific Northwest (April Blue), Lower Colorado Basin (Joy Orsini), and Upper Colorado Basin (Gary McRae).

As of this check no WCFSP notice was open — the most recent was FY2025, closed Jan. 31, 2025. Contact your regional coordinator for the next cycle.

Contact your local NRCS office to apply and for more information. 

Dan Dostie

Managing water resources in the American West can be challenging. Drought, aging infrastructure, and environmental requirements can strain existing resources. Through NRCS’s EQIP WaterSMART Initiative (WSI), we collaborate with&#x2004;the Bureau of Reclamation to coordinate investments in priority areas for improving our cumulative impact in water conservation and drought resilience.


NRCS and Reclamation have been coordinating EQIP and WaterSMART investments since a pilot by California NRCS in 2011.


For Fiscal Year 2024, NRCS selected 9 new priority areas and is continuing to offer funding in 36 prior approved areas, making $29.7 million in EQIP funding available through the WSI across 16 states.


## How Does the WaterSMART Initiative Work?

Reclamation makes their WaterSMART programs available across the Western US and other areas to help states, tribes, and local entities plan for and implement projects that increase water supply by providing funds to modernize existing infrastructure and otherwise build drought resilience.


NRCS uses EQIP WaterSmart funds to complement Reclamation WaterSMART funded projects by helping eligible farmers and ranchers make improvements that align with the paired Reclamation WaterSMART project.


Eligible farmers and ranchers with operations in a selected priority area will be automatically ranked in the EQIP-WSI targeted fund pool when they apply for EQIP funding.


## How does WSI benefit producers?

Through this initiative NRCS provides eligible EQIP applicants with the additional resources and tools needed to manage soil moisture, improve irrigation water use efficiency in crop and pasture lands, and protect irrigation water sources from depletion.


In addition, EQIP funding also helps farmers and ranchers improve soil health; reduce soil erosion, sediment, nutrient, and pathogen loss in fields; protect crop health and productivity; and make using equipment, facilities, and agricultural operations more efficient.


## How does WSI benefit the public?

By coordinating NRCS’s EQIP and Reclamation’s WaterSMART investments, this federal collaboration works to ensure that water users conserve this vital resource for use during droughts or use by others in the community needing it for clean drinking water or energy, industry, management of wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes, and other uses. This collaboration is a priority of the [National Drought Resilience Partnership](https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2020/10/22/national-drought-resilience-partnership-responsibilities-under-new).






Managing water resources in the American West can be challenging. Drought, aging infrastructure, and environmental requirements can strain existing resources. Through NRCS’s EQIP WaterSMART Initiative (WSI), we collaborate with the Bureau of Reclamation to coordinate investments in priority areas for improving our cumulative impact in water conservation and drought resilience.

NRCS and Reclamation have been coordinating EQIP and WaterSMART investments since a pilot by California NRCS in 2011.

For Fiscal Year 2024, NRCS selected 9 new priority areas and is continuing to offer funding in 36 prior approved areas, making $29.7 million in EQIP funding available through the WSI across 16 states.

How Does the WaterSMART Initiative Work?
Reclamation makes their WaterSMART programs available across the Western US and other areas to help states, tribes, and local entities plan for and implement projects that increase water supply by providing funds to modernize existing infrastructure and otherwise build drought resilience.

NRCS uses EQIP WaterSmart funds to complement Reclamation WaterSMART funded projects by helping eligible farmers and ranchers make improvements that align with the paired Reclamation WaterSMART project.

Eligible farmers and ranchers with operations in a selected priority area will be automatically ranked in the EQIP-WSI targeted fund pool when they apply for EQIP funding.

How does WSI benefit producers?
Through this initiative NRCS provides eligible EQIP applicants with the additional resources and tools needed to manage soil moisture, improve irrigation water use efficiency in crop and pasture lands, and protect irrigation water sources from depletion.

In addition, EQIP funding also helps farmers and ranchers improve soil health; reduce soil erosion, sediment, nutrient, and pathogen loss in fields; protect crop health and productivity; and make using equipment, facilities, and agricultural operations more efficient.

How does WSI benefit the public?
By coordinating NRCS’s EQIP and Reclamation’s WaterSMART investments, this federal collaboration works to ensure that water users conserve this vital resource for use during droughts or use by others in the community needing it for clean drinking water or energy, industry, management of wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes, and other uses. This collaboration is a priority of the National Drought Resilience Partnership.




How Does the WaterSMART Initiative Work?
Reclamation makes their WaterSMART programs available across the Western US and other areas to help states, tribes, and local entities plan for and implement projects that increase water supply by providing funds to modernize existing infrastructure and otherwise build drought resilience.

NRCS uses EQIP WaterSmart funds to complement Reclamation WaterSMART funded projects by helping eligible farmers and ranchers make improvements that align with the paired Reclamation WaterSMART project.

Eligible farmers and ranchers with operations in a selected priority area will be automatically ranked in the EQIP-WSI targeted fund pool when they apply for EQIP funding.

FY 2024 Priority Area Projects
Active across the West are 9 new and 36 ongoing areas targeted for $29.7 million of FY'24 Environmental Quality Initiative Program (EQIP) WaterSMART Initiative (WSI) funds available for complementing Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART projects. 13 areas selected during the last three years completed the funding phase of program delivery and technical assistance is being provided to contract participants.

About Multi-Year Priority Area Funding Projects
The project descriptions below include the following key information and a narrative about the collaborative effort: the name of the funding project, the amount of EQIP-WSI funds budgeted to help eligible producers in the area, the extent in acres of the area, the funding timeline, the target number of new contracts funded in the area, the target amount of new acres under contract, what Reclamation WaterSMART Program categories provided funding by year to the complemented project, and the type of complementary project completed by a local irrigation district or other water management organization receiving the Reclamation WaterSMART funds.
FY2024 Priority Area Projects

- Bureau of Reclamation WaterSMART
- National Drought Resilience Partnership
- Building National Capabilities for Long-Term Drought Resilience 
- USDA Drought Programs and Assistance on Farmers.gov


Weather

Disaster Relief

Emergency

No payment rate, cost-share percentage, or award cap is published for this initiative — WSI is a targeted EQIP funding pool, not a separate payment schedule. What is published:

- How you get in: "Eligible farmers and ranchers with operations in a selected priority area will be automatically ranked in the EQIP-WSI targeted fund pool when they apply for EQIP funding." There is no separate WSI application.
- Current scope: "For Fiscal Year 2026, NRCS selected 11 new priority areas and is continuing to offer EQIP funding through the WSI in 26 prior approved areas across 12 states and one tribal area." (The $29.7 million FY2024 figure that once appeared here is no longer on the page, and no FY2026 dollar total is given.)
- Payment mechanics are standard EQIP: "Once you sign the contract, you'll be provided standards and specifications for completing the practice or practices, and then you will have a specified amount of time to implement. Once the work is implemented and inspected, you'll be paid the rate of compensation for the work if it meets NRCS standards and specifications."

So the money is real but the number is local: your dollars come from your state's NRCS EQIP payment schedule for the specific practices in your contract. Being inside a WSI priority area improves your ranking, not your rate.

List of U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Funding Opportunities