Assistance program
Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program
$55.2 Million committed in FY2024–FY2026
- Agency
- Bureau of Reclamation, Interior, Department of the
- Assistance
- Not Applicable
- CFDA number
- 15.580
- What it does
- The objective of the Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program is to work cooperatively with states, Tribes, and other entities as they study, design and construct aquatic ecosystem restoration projects that are collaboratively developed, have widespread regional benefits, and result in the improvement of the health of fisheries, wildlife, and aquatic habitat through restoration and improved fish passage. As used here, “aquatic ecosystem†refers to freshwater and brackish water habitats such as lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, wetlands, swamps, and estuaries and the adjacent floodplains, riparian corridors, deltas, and shallow aquifers that interact with surface water.
- Who benefits
- General public, entities with water or power delivery authority, state, county, and local governmental entities, and Tribes located in eligible states and territories previously described in applicant eligibility. The Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Program benefits a diverse array of stakeholders, which may include but is not limited to, private property owners, Federal, State, or local agencies, and Tribes located in eligible states and territories previously described in applicant eligibility.
- Who applies
- In accordance with P.L. 116-260, Sec. 1109(a), eligible applicants include States, Tribes, irrigation districts, or water districts; State, regional, or local authorities, the members of which include one or more organizations with water or power delivery authority; agencies established under State law for the joint exercise of powers; and other entities or organizations that own a dam that is eligible for upgrade, modification, or removal. Nonprofit conservation organizations are also eligible to apply if they are acting in partnership with and with the agreement of an entity described above with respect to a project involving land or infrastructure owned by the entity. Applicants must also be located in in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the Virgin Islands.
- Authorized by
- Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration
- Secure Water Act; (P.L.) 111-11 (42 United States Code [U.S.C.] 10364), as amended
- Multi-Benefit Projects to Improve Watershed Health
- Program site
- http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/aerp/index.html ↗
Committed by fiscal year
* FY2026 is year-to-date — the fiscal year is still in progress, so its total is still filling in. The striped band and dashed line mark that provisional stretch.
Top recipients
By dollars committed.
How to read these numbers
- Committed through this program
Money committed under this assistance listing (its CFDA program), counted in the year each action happened.
- How it's paid
Most programs pay out one way — a grant, or a direct payment to individuals; the flow bar only appears when a program genuinely mixes types.
- Some recipients aren't itemized
For entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, the government reports one aggregate instead of naming tens of millions of people, so the recipient roster isn't part of the public record.
- Awards, counted once
An award count is the number of distinct awards with at least one action that year — each counted once, however many times it was amended.
- The colored bars
Every bar on this page splits by how the money moves:
Direct payments