EPA announces $1.7M for transboundary watershed grants
SEATTLE (Aug. 27, 2025) – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced eight organizations will receive $1,749,700 through EPA’s Transboundary Watershed Grant Program to monitor and reduce transboundary mining pollution in U.S.-British Columbia transboundary watersheds.
The selected organizations include:
- Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes
- Central Council of the Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska
- Kootenai Tribe of Idaho
- Ketchikan Indian Community
- Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
- Idaho Department of Environmental Quality
- State of Alaska Department of Fish and Game
- Montana Department of Environmental Quality
This inaugural round of grants is part of a larger effort by EPA’s Office of International and Tribal Affairs, EPA Region 8 and EPA Region 10 to address water quality impacts from proposed, active and legacy mining activities in the Canadian province.
“The Office of International and Tribal Affairs is pleased that the U.S.-B.C. transboundary watershed grant program has finalized the awarding of financial assistance agreements that will assist state, Tribe, and local governments to monitor, assess, and reduce transboundary mining pollution in the Kootenai/y watershed, and other U.S.-B.C. transboundary watersheds,” said OITA Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator Victoria Tran. “These grants respond to Congressional direction to reduce pollution, protect U.S. waters, and directly support Pillar One of Administrator Zeldin’s Powering the Great American Comeback initiative to provide clean air, land, and water for every American.”
EPA received eight eligible applications from states and Tribes that span the geographic area. After an in-depth review process, all eight applicants were selected and awarded initial partial funding. The proposed projects collectively total more than $4.1 million. The program has received a second year of funding and will be incrementally funding the selected projects.
EPA’s Transboundary Watershed Grant Program seeks to foster coordination among federal, state and Tribal agencies to improve the capacity of all levels of government to develop and refine effective, comprehensive programs for transboundary watershed protection and management.