Program Funding Helps in Aftermath
Forecasters are predicting another busy hurricane season this year, while Florida is still recovering from Hurricane Irma and Harvey.
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funded $93 million for 133 projects in 27 Florida counties damaged by Hurricane Irma and $570,000 for one project in one county from Hurricane Harvey. Projects will remove debris and stabilize stream-banks to prevent flooding and erosion threatening homes, businesses, roads and utilities.
If your area suffers damage from a natural disaster, the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) can help relieve imminent hazards to life and property caused by floods, fires, windstorms and hurricanes. Aid may include financial and technical assistance to remove debris from streams, protect destabilized stream banks and establish cover on critically eroding lands, repair conservation practices and purchase flood plain easements.
The public and private landowners are eligible for assistance, but must be represented by a project sponsor, such as a city, county, conservation district or a Native American tribe or organization. NRCS provides technical assistance and pays up to 75 percent of the construction. Local sources contribute the remaining portion in the form of cash or in-kind services.
The process begins when the sponsor requests assistance from a local NRCS office. Staff visit the site and determine eligibility based on threats to life or property, environmental impacts and economic analysis, then request funding from the NRCS national office. If Congress appropriates funds, the sponsor enters into a cooperative agreement to complete the work.