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Sustainable Financing Strategies

On average, the National Estuary Programs (NEPs) raise $15 for every $1 provided by EPA. The NEPs successfully leverage federal seed money by:

Graph shows cumulative section 320 funding increasing from $0 to about $50 from 2003 through 2008. Cumulative primary leveraging increases from $200 to $1400 over the same time period.

Figure 1: NEP Primary Leveraged Dollars: 2003-2008 ($1.48 billion)

Over the 2003-2008 period the NEPs leveraged $1.48 billion from $99 million in EPA grants. The $1.48 billion in additional funding came from a variety of federal, state, local, and private sources including license plate revenues, supplemental environmental projects, and State bonds. There are many sustainable funding examples from the NEPs.


From 2005-2008, the National Estuary Program's primary leveraging investments totaled $1.2 billion. Less than 5% of NEP leveraged dollars are invested in NEP overhead. The majority of the leveraged dollars are invested in land acquisition, restoration, and wastewater projects that implement the NEP's Comprehensive Conservation Management Plans.

Figure 2: Primary Leveraging Investments: 2005-2008 ($1.12 billion)

The NEPs use leveraged resources for a variety of priority actions contained in their Comprehensive Conservation Management Plans. Approximately 50% of the funds are used to protect and restore important habitat. Other activities supported by these funds include watershed outreach and education, stormwater infrastructure implementation, and water quality monitoring.

Additional Resources:

Watershed Funding Web site provides links to requests for proposals, tools, databases, and information about sources of funding to practitioners and funders that serve to protect watersheds.

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