United States Environmental Protection Agency

In 1987, Congress amended the and New York Uses created the Clean Water State Revolving Fund (CWSRF) CWSRF to Fund to finance projects that improve water quality. The 51 Wetland Acquisition individual revolving funds combine federal and state money to provide low-interest loans for eligible The State of New York projects. Between $3 and $4 billion is loaned out has used its SRF as a each year to public and private organizations to low-cost way to fund improve water quality. As the loans are repaid, money land acquisition projects is available to be used again for new projects — a true that protect water revolving fund. Wetland preservation, restoration and quality. In 2000, the City creation projects are often eligible for funding under the CWSRF. of Rye, NY used a $3.1 million CWSRF short- Using the CWSRF for Nonpoint Who is eligible to apply for a CWSRF term, zero interest loan Source Pollution Control and Coastal loan? Because each state administers and sets its own to acquire and protect Management istorically, states have used CWSRF loans program priorities, loan eligibility varies from crucial land in the Long H to finance large municipal wastewater state to state. Typical applicants have been Island Sound Estuary. treatment facilities. However, in recent years, municipalities and other public This land acquisition, states have begun to redirect their funds to organizations.However, more than 15 states now accept loan applications from not-for- recommended in the help manage nonpoint source pollution (NPS). Unlike pollution that comes from direct profit organizations or private entities. Comprehensive sources, such as wastewater sewage plants, Oftentimes, not-for-profit organizations Conservation and NPS pollution is caused from rainwater or partner with other state agencies, government Management Plan for snowmelt running over and through the loan programs, municipalities or banks. the Long Island Sound, ground. As it travels, the run-off picks up sediments, fertilizers, and other man-made What types of wetland projects can will protect water quality chemicals and deposits these pollutants into be funded? and preserve and downstream or lower lying waterbodies. Over 30 states use their CWSRF to support improve the waterfront, nonpoint source projects. Some specific wetland Since 1995, 28 percent of all CWSRF loan tributaries and wetlands examples include: wetlands acquisition, creation agreements have been used to fund nonpoint of treatment wetlands, restoration of degraded within the City. The source pollution control projects. States can or nonfunctioning wetlands, and the purchase of State recently expanded also use the SRF to implement Comprehensive conservation easements. their SRF to provide not- Coastal Management Plans developed through for-profit organizations EPA’s National Estuary Program. Benefits of a CWSRF Loan: a mechanism to fund Where do wetlands fit in? • Favorable Terms — CWSRF asssistance is usually land acquisition projects One of the unique functions of wetland areas is offered on advantageous terms: loans with that they can help control NPS pollutants like that protect water interest rates between market rate and 0%, and a sediment, nutrients and certain heavy metals quality. repayment period as long as 20 years. without being degraded. Wetlands vegetation can transform, uptake and store these • Flexible Repayment Options — The source for pollutants while slowing runoff from the repayment doesn’t necessarily have to come surrounding landscape. Properly managed from the project itself. Some creative solutions wetlands can play a significant role in have included recreational fees, supplemental improving water quality. In addition, taxes or membership dues. Comprehensive Coastal Management Plans often include projects to restore habitat, • Loans can cover 100% of eligible costs with no including wetlands. cash up front. Protecting Vernal Pools Using the CWSRF Ohio EPA Allows Since 1998, EPA’s Region 9 (Pacific Southwest) In 1999, the Nature Conservancy (TNC), lead Communities to has worked with the Trust for Public Land the way in using SRF loans from the California Protect Water (TPL) to support the work of ten land trusts Water Resources Control Board to safeguard and Resource Conservation Districts vernal pools. TNC paired an $8 million loan Resources Using throughout California’s Central Valley. from the State with $6 million raised from the CWSRF private and public sources to add the stunning, Under this partnership, the local land trusts 12,362-acre Howard Ranch to the Cosumnes The Ohio EPA’s Water and conservancies have worked with an array River Preserve in South Sacramento County. of federal and state agencies to leverage The ranch was threatened with subdivision, Resource Restoration millions of dollars in conservation spending — and the purchase effectively prevented non- Sponsor Program including $9.5 million in Clean Water State point source pollution and the degradation of (WRRSP) uses funds Revolving Fund loans. water quality and habitat that would have from the state’s Clean resulted from development. The local The Central Valley encompasses 15 million Water Revolving Fund to acres of land and serves as the great watershed Sacramento Valley Conservancy quickly restore and protect for the San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San followed suit by landing a $1 million SRF loan Joaquin Delta Estuary. Vernal pool wetlands to advance the establishment of the 3,000 acre wetlands. Sacramento Vernal Pool Prairie Preserve. represent one of the Valley’s most imperiled In April 2001, the City of ecosystems. These wetlands mostly occur on the floor of the Valley and support a diversity Marion, in northern of specialized plants and animals that occur Ohio, acquired the nowhere else in the world. Edison Reserve, 1,300 To date, the partnership has protected more acres of woods, than 40,000 acres of vernal pool landscapes wetlands, and meadows and related natural communities (e.g., oak using this program. To woodlands, table-top plateaus). The fund the project, the City partnership enables land trusts and agreed to increase the conservancies to acquire easements on, or fee title to, properties rich in wetland resources, low-interest CWSRF loan rare and endangered species, and valuable Photo by Mark Bright they were receiving from grasslands. Vernal Pools are one of the most threatened ecosystems in the world. Ohio EPA to improve their wastewater EPA 843-F-02-004 treatment system. $4.5 Office of Water million was used to acquire the Reserve while an additional $1 million will be used in For more information, call EPA’s Wetlands Helpline at 1-800-832-7828, or the future to restore as visit www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands much as 300 acres of wetlands on the Information on EPA’s Clean Water State Revolving Fund Program, including contact information property. This effort, the for regional and state coordinators ...... www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf largest conservation EPA. 2001. Fact Sheet: Funding Wetland Projects. Office of Water, U.S. Environmental accomplishment in Ohio Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA 843-F-01-002f. Available online at in recent decades, www.epa.gov/owow/wetlands/factsheets/funding.pdf involved many public EPA. 2000. Guiding Principles for Constructed Treatment Wetlands: Providing for Water Quality and private partners and and Wildlife Habitat. Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC. EPA 843-B-00-003. For information on obtaining this and other EPA Office of Water was coordinated by the publications, visit yosemite.epa.gov/water/owrccatalog.nsf Trust for Public Land. For more information, EPA. 1997. The Clean Water State Revolving Fund: How to Fund Nonpoint Source and Estuary Enhancement Projects. Office of Water, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, visit www.tpl.org DC. EPA 909-K-97-001. Available online at www.epa.gov/owm/cwfinance/cwsrf/final.pdf