National Water Program: Who We Are

Land Grant Colleges and Universities

More than 100 colleges and universities comprise the nation's Land-Grant University System . A Land Grant College or University is an institution that has been designated by its state legislature or Congress to receive unique federal support. Each Land Grant College or University has a Cooperative Extension Service . The National Water Program consists of Land Grant College and University:

Scientists learning new insights about the natural environment,
Instructors teaching, engaging, and developing tomorrow’s scientific and professional workforce, and
Cooperative Extension educators working with our local communities' decision makers, youth, underserved, and the general public.

In partnership with CSREES, we are effectively working to improve the quality of our nation's water resources!

CSREES - Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

The Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES) is an agency within the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) , part of the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Visit the CSREES Background webpage for more information. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

The CSREES National Integrated Water Quality Program provides funding to the National Water Program and its Land Grant partners via the CSREES Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Competitive Grants Program and the National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program. This program is often referred to as a "406" Program because of its legislative roots in Section 406 of the Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 (AREERA) (7 U.S.C. 7626) , the legislation that authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to establish this competitive grants program. The roots of this program are found in the Cooperative Extension Water Quality Initiative that began circa 1989.

National Water Program Mission

- Applying Knowledge to Improve Water Quality -

The mission of the National Water Program is to create and disseminate knowledge that insures a safe and reliable source of water of the appropriate quality to meet the needs of:
Food and fiber production,
Human health, use, and economic growth, and
Maintenance and protection of natural environmental systems
throughout the United States and its territories. This mission is accomplished through research, education, and extension programs to protect and improve water resources in agricultural, rural, and urbanizing watersheds (including forest lands, rangelands, and croplands).

The National Water Program consists of:

Regional Programs (based on the ten EPA regions

National Facilitation Projects,

Extension Education Projects,

Integrated Research, Education, and Extension Projects, and

National Research Initiative (NRI, Water and Watersheds) Projects.
Knowledge created through funded projects is shared at the community and watershed scale via education and outreach activities of all projects. Extension Education, Integrated, and NRI projects share and coordinate accomplishments with National Facilitation projects and Regional Coordination projects. National Facilitation and Regional Coordination projects coordinate activities to achieve synergistic effects of greater knowledge transfer and use among stakeholders and practitioners.

This website features an index of all projects funded by the CSREES Water Quality National Program Office to date. Funding is directed towards projects that address one or more topical themes deemed as priorities by the CSREES National Program Office for Water Quality.

Contacts

Detailed contact information for all key participants in this program are available in the national directory.

This material is based upon work supported in part by the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under Agreement No. 2004-51130-03108 and the Rhode Island Agricultural Experiment Station. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.