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Scaling and Concentrating Investments in Water Quality

Targeting watershed investments where they have the greatest impact creates economies of scale and visible community benefits.

We’ve forged partnerships between municipalities in the Mississippi River Basin and the farmers in their watershed to improve water quality and save taxpayer dollars. In addition to facilitating the individual agreements, EPIC helps states craft nonpoint source management plans that strategize at the watershed scale, focus on outcomes, and attract private investment.

Did You Know?

Approximately 51% of assessed river and stream miles in the U.S. are considered impaired, and 55% of lake acres are similarly impaired. About 26% of estuary miles are also compromised.
In total, more than 700,000 miles of waterways are too polluted to meet standards for swimming, drinking, aquatic life, or fish consumption.
Transboundary watersheds—those crossing jurisdictional boundaries—have a higher impairment rate of 35.8%, compared to 27.0% among internal watersheds.
Developing watershed partnerships in Iowa was so effective that the Kansas Department of Health & Environment borrowed our agreement and started creating their own partnerships between permittees and regulators.
In one Iowa city, the wastewater department requested $100,000 for watershed work, and the city council–understanding its relative cost-effectiveness–insisted on appropriating at least $200,000…every year for the next 20 years.
Watershed-scale partnerships started in states (like South Dakota’s Big Sioux River Project and Maryland’s Whole Watershed Act) and are now recommended by the US EPA.

Why It Matters

Water doesn’t respect political boundaries, and random acts of restoration waste money and time. Coordination, especially using precision analytics, can ensure every dollar gets spent in a way that delivers the biggest impact the fastest. And, getting all parties to agree on what really matters can increase demand for water quality outcomes, like with investments from wastewater permittees.

Our Way Forward

We provide technical assistance to state planners, helping them adopt the recommendations in EPA’s nonpoint management plan guidance. This works to develop watershed finance partnerships that coordinate and concentrate funding to achieve tangible progress faster.