Rep. Leger Fernández Secures Full Federal Cost Coverage for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program to Pay for Work on Private Land Needed to Protect Homes and Property From Flooding After the Wildfires

WASHINGTON - Today,Congresswoman Teresa Leger Fernández secured full federal cost coverage for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program. 

The EWPP pays for work on private landholdings. This comes after Rep. Leger Fernández made the request directly to President Biden during his visit to New Mexico and sent a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack reiterating the request. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) will waive the 10 percent cost-share and pay for 100% of the costs associated with the Emergency Watershed Protection Program.  This waiver will help protect communities across Colfax, Mora, San Miguel and Lincoln Counties.

“I’ve been to the burn scars, heard from the property owners directly and consulted with the acequia parciantes. Monsoon season brings a new threat – catastrophic flooding in the burn scar,” said Rep. Leger Fernández. “The federal government must take responsibility for the destruction that the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire inflicted on our communities.  As I told President Biden, the fire destroyed many private ranches and farms, and these communities do not have the funds to pay for the work to protect their homes and property from erosion and flooding. The announcement today will save these communities millions of dollars and it is the right thing to do. The work needs to be done as soon as possible, and I’ll keep pushing to make that happen.”

Background

The Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program is a federal emergency recovery program that provides funds to help local private landowners prevent flooding and erosion on their properties. While President Biden has announced 100% federal cost share for disaster relief categories A and B (debris removal and emergency protective measures), those programs only provide support to state and local governments.  The EWP funds work for private landowners.

The EWP Program allows communities to quickly protect infrastructure, land, and property from additional flooding and soil erosion. All funded EWP projects must demonstrate they: provide protection from flooding or soil erosion; reduce threats to life and property; restore the hydraulic capacity to the natural environment to the maximum practical extent; and are economically and environmentally defensible and technically sound. NRCS offers financial and technical assistance for various activities under EWP Program including:

• Remove debris from stream channels, road culverts and bridges;
• reshape and protect eroded streambanks;
• correct damaged or destroyed drainage facilities;
• establish vegetative cover on critically eroding lands;
• repair levees and structures;      
• repair certain conservation practices, and
• purchase floodplain easements

Last week, Congresswoman Leger Fernández met with President Biden and requested his commitment to passing the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Assistance Act as well as additional resources for protecting the damaged watershed.

The letter sent by Congresswoman Leger Fernández to USDA on waiving the 10% cost share for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program can be found HERE.

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