EWP Rule Change will Impact Six Alabama Counties
by Julie A. Best, Public Affairs Specialist, USDA-NRCS, Auburn, AL
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Recent rule changes in the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program will have a
favorable impact on six Alabama counties: Bullock, Greene, Lowndes, Sumter, Walker, and
Wilcox. The EWP program, administered by USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service
(NRCS), helps remove threats to life and property that remain in the nation’s watersheds after a
natural disaster, such as floods, fires, windstorms, hurricanes, and tornadoes. In the past, local
sponsors (counties, cities, towns, and conservation districts) who requested EWP assistance,
were expected to provide at least 25 percent of funding for EWP watershed repair practices.
NRCS provided up to 75 percent of funding and technical assistance. With recent rule changes,
limited resource areas can receive 90 percent cost-share assistance with only 10 percent of the
funding coming from the sponsor.
To quality for the limited resource area designation, a
county must meet all of the following criteria:
1) Housing values are less than 75 percent of the State
housing value average;
2) Per capita income is 75 percent or less than the
National per capita income; and
3) Unemployment is twice the U.S. average over the
past three (3) years based upon annual unemployment
figures.
Based on Census Bureau data, only four percent of the
US counties and 1.2 percent of the population will
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Torrential rains jeopardized utility and road
infrastructures. EWP funds are used to
protect threats to life and property as a
result of a natural disaster.
he U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in all its programs and activities on the basis of race,
olor, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, and marital or family status. (Not all
rohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alte