(Washington D.C.) – The United States Environmental Protection Agency is offering three-and-a-half million dollars in new grant funding to help Native American tribes improve local water quality. The competitive grants, authorized under the Clean Water Act, target nonpoint source pollution, which includes contaminated runoff from urban and rural areas.
EPA official Caitlin McHale says the agency is committed to working government-to-government with federally recognized tribes to strengthen their water resources. Since 2009, previous grantees have successfully restored more than 16,000 miles of rivers and streams.
Eligible tribes and intertribal consortia can apply for up to 175,000 dollars per project to fund erosion control, streambank planting, and watershed planning. The EPA expects to award about 20 grants in total. Applications must be submitted through grants-dot-gov by November 9, 2026.
