EPA has released a new guide to help the 51 Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) programs apply best practices to help turn the tide on nonpoint source (NPS) pollution. The CWSRF is the nation’s largest financial resource dedicated to the purpose of addressing water quality problems and is growing under the new Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Meanwhile, NPS pollution remains the nation’s largest water quality challenge.
Each state, and Puerto Rico, uses the EPA-administered CWSRF program to operate its own water infrastructure bank established for the sole purpose of combatting water pollution from both point and nonpoint sources within their boundaries. As such, each state CWSRF program defines its own goals and operating policies, while also following federal requirements. Although addressing point source needs will continue to be a mainstay for the CWSRF, there is a need to ramp up efforts to better address NPS challenges. Among these programs, some have achieved particularly notable success at using CWSRF funds to target NPS needs.
These state programs have evolved to produce creative solutions to combat NPS problems and offer valuable lessons for other states to consider. EPA developed this guide to share the collective wisdom from those states that have achieved success in this area. EPA’s CWSRF Best Practices Guide for Financing Nonpoint Source Solutions is intended to help state staff better align and integrate their state’s CWSRF and NPS management programs. The guide suggests strategies and key elements needed to expand the use of CWSRF resources to address priority needs as specified in state NPS management program plans, and it identifies potential obstacles and how to overcome them. Lastly, the guide provides helpful case studies of successful and innovative partnerships underway across the country.
