Several government programs apart from IDEM’s 319/205(j) grants programs fund watershed-related activities. Below are some of the resources that Indiana’s watershed coordinators and leaders turn to:
State Funding Sources
- Indiana's Lake and River Enhancement (LARE) Program: a state program administered by the Department of Natural Resources, Division of Fish and Wildlife. The program receives a portion of Indiana’s annual boat fees and reallocates those funds to lake associations, watershed groups, and Soil and Water Conservation Districts to improve public lakes and streams.
- The Clean Water Indiana (CWI) Program was established to provide financial assistance to landowners and conservation groups. The financial assistance supports the implementation of conservation practices which will reduce nonpoint sources of water pollution through education, technical assistance, training, and cost sharing programs. The CWI fund is administered by the Division of Soil Conservation under the direction of the State Soil Conservation Board.
Federal Funding
- Farm Bill conservation programs are authorized by Congress to be administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. Though there are many Farm Bill programs relevant to watershed work, these are a few of the most used in Indiana:
- Conservation Reserve Program: Allows a producer to set aside land in highly erodible areas, receive rental payments on the land enrolled, and pays a cost-share to establish appropriate vegetative cover for the site.
- Environmental Quality Incentives Program: This program’s top priority is reducing nonpoint source pollution from agricultural land and offers a cost-share on many agricultural practices such as livestock exclusion, conservation cover, critical area planting, and filter strips.
- Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program: This program is available for increasing wildlife habitat in both upland and wetland situations.
- Wetland Reserve Program: Allows landowners to restore wetlands on their properties with the possibility of cost-share for the restoration and an easement payment.
- U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
- Partners for Fish and Wildlife: Provides cost-share for wetlands restorations, prairie restorations, endangered species habitat, and other practices on private lands in target areas.
- National Fish Passage Program: Helps organizations remove barriers to fish migration such as culverts, dikes, water diversions, and dams.
Didn’t find what you were looking for? IDEM’s Funding Matrix [XLS] provides an even larger list of funding mechanisms.