United States Department of Agriculture
Natural Resources Conservation Service		 Maryland Go to Accessibility Information
Skip to Page Content





Maryland NRCS Announces Proposals Are Due February 25 for new Agricultural Water Enhancement Program

Maryland Media Liaison:

Carol Hollingsworth, 443-482-2902

Annapolis, MD, February 9, 2009 –“Up to $58.4 million in financial assistance is available nationwide to agricultural producers and entities through the Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP), a new conservation program established in the 2008 Farm Bill to promote ground and surface water conservation and water quality improvement,” said Jon Hall, Maryland State Conservation for the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

USDA is seeking project proposals from potential partners through this program. The AWEP Partner Proposal must be postmarked and submitted to the NRCS Maryland State Conservationist by February 25, 2009 and a duplicate application must be submitted to the NRCS Chief in Washington, DC by March 2, 2009. The Request for Proposals and information on the Partner Application can be found at: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/farmbill/2008/pdfs/aweprfp2009.pdf.

Proposals should be submitted by February 25, 2009 to NRCS Maryland State Conservationist, Attn: ASTC Programs, 339 Busch’s Frontage Road, Suite 301, Annapolis, Maryland 21409 or mark.rose@md.usda.gov. A duplicate proposal should be submitted by March 2, 2009 to NRCS Chief, Attn: Financial Assistance Programs Division, AWEP Proposals, Post Office Box 2890, Washington, DC 20013 or visit http://www.grants.gov/apply for instructions on submitting an online proposal.

The 2008 Farm Bill established AWEP as a component of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), USDA's largest conservation program on working agricultural lands. All EQIP requirements and policies will apply to AWEP.

The new Farm Bill expanded EQIP to include AWEP. AWEP offers financial and technical assistance to help farmers and ranchers carry out water enhancement activities that conserve ground and surface water and improve water quality on agricultural lands such as cropland, pasture, grassland and rangeland.

Agricultural water enhancement activities include:

  • water quality or water conservation plan development;
  • water conservation restoration or enhancement projects, including conversion to the production of less water-intensive agricultural commodities or dry land farming;
  • water quality or quantity restoration or enhancement projects;
  • irrigation system improvement or irrigation efficiency enhancement;
  • activities designed to reduce drought's impacts; and
  • other related activities that will help achieve water quality or water conservation benefits on agricultural land.

Under this new program, USDA-NRCS can contract directly with agricultural producers who are included in approved partner proposals. Eligible partners include federally-recognized tribes, states, units of local government, or agricultural or silvicultural associations. Producers who apply for AWEP assistance must meet EQIP eligibility requirements. All AWEP funding must go to producers.

Once AWEP projects have been selected, agricultural producers in those selected project areas can apply for available AWEP funds at their local USDA Service Center.

Conservation Partners or entities considering submitting an AWEP proposal in Maryland, should contact Mark Rose, NRCS Maryland Assistant State Conservationist for Programs at (443) 482-2910 or mark.rose@md.usda.gov to discuss their proposal.

For additional information about the AWEP under EQIP, please visit www.md.nrcs.usda.gov, click on programs.

National Agricultural Water Enhancement Program

< Back to News