The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Natural Resources Conversation Service (NRCS) in the Pacific Islands Area (PIA) is seeking producers and forest land managers to apply for funding through the National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) Hilo Bay and Kawaihae Watershed Projects on Hawaiʻi Island. The project seeks to address water quality and quantity resource concerns in these priority watersheds.
The National Water Quality Initiative is USDA’s premier water quality initiative and provides a way to accelerate voluntary, on farm conservation investment and focused water quality monitoring and assessment resource where they can deliver the greatest benefits for clean water.
NRCS in the Pacific Islands Area and its partners work with local farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners to implement conservation systems, easements and watershed plans that help enhance and sustain the use of water, soil, and wildlife habitat, in targeted project areas. Producers and forest land managers can participate in the Kawaihae Watershed project by reaching out to the NRCS Waimea Field Office. Producers and forest land managers can participate in the Hilo Bay project by reaching out to the NRCS Hilo Field Office.
The National Water Quality Initiative is a partnership among NRCS, state water quality agencies and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to identify and address impaired water bodies through voluntary conservation. Conservation projects include activities to reduce erosion, improve soil health and address water quality and water quantity improvements. Dedicated funding provided solely to producers and forest managers located within these watersheds will be provided on an annual basis until project completion. For the Kawaihae Watershed, 2023 is the first year of implementation for this new priority watershed. Hilo received NWQI funding from 2012 to 2019, but 2023 marks the first year for funding under a revised Hilo NWQI Watershed boundary area.
Pacific Islands Area producers within either the Hilo Bay or the Kawaihae Watersheds looking to implement conservation systems that help address erosion, improve soil health and address water quality or quantity resource concerns through this project opportunity should contact the NRCS Waimea Field Office or the NRCS Hilo Field Office. Applications for funding through these projects will be accepted through March 10, 2023.
For more information about NWQI, visit the National Water Quality Initiative website.
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