The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) provides financial and technical assistance to municipalities and local agencies in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands for the recovery and protection of life and property caused by excessive erosion and flooding from torrential rains for the following activities under the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program:
debris removal from stream channels, road culverts and bridges;
reshape and protect eroded streambanks;
correct damaged drainage facilities;
establish vegetative cover on critically eroding lands;
repair levees and structures; and
repair conservation practices.
Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands agencies and organizations seeking to sponsor Emergency Watershed Protection projects should submit a sponsor request letter to Natural Resources Conservation Service as soon as possible. The cuff-off date for agencies/sponsors to nominate potential damaged sites for Emergency Watershed Protection Program Recovery assistance is June 21, 2024.
Contact NRCS Emergency Watershed Protection Coordinator Lisbeth San Miguel-Rivera and Caribbean Area State Conservation Engineer Yilia Baucage-Bou, at Lisbeth.SanMiguel-Rivera@usda.gov / Yilia.Baucage-Bou@usda.gov or 939-208-0931 / 787-342-6916 for more information or visit www.pr.nrcs.usda.gov / EWP fact sheet.
