$40 Million Now Available For Streamflow Restoration Grants

The Washington Department of Ecology is now accepting applications for the fifth round of competitive streamflow restoration grants. The new grant cycle includes up to $40 million for projects that aim to improve streamflows throughout the state. These projects help manage the state's water resources, prepare for the impacts of climate change and restore streamflows to levels necessary to support robust, healthy and sustainable salmon populations.

Eligible applicants include Tribal governments with reservation lands or treaty rights in Washington, as well as public entities and nonprofit organizations within Washington. The application period will close March 17, 2026.

Links to our funding guidelines, our Jan. 22 applicant workshop and other resources are available on our Streamflow Restoration Competitive Grants web page.

The grants can fund a range of water supply projects focused on improving streamflows, with priority points awarded to projects that:

• Are identified in an adopted watershed plan or rulemaking process that was completed to meet the requirements of the Streamflow Restoration Act
• Actively manage water to provide quantitative improvements to streamflows that will benefit instream resources
• Benefit native fish or aquatic species of concern
• Benefit threatened or endangered salmonids
• Benefit overburdened communities or vulnerable populations

Examples of projects funded in the previous grant round include:

• $1,926,025 to Kittitas Conservation Trust for the Kachess River Restoration Project to improve streamflow and habitat conditions for endangered bull trout and improve ecosystem function on about one mile of the upper Kachess River
• $1,186,233 to the Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation to restore streamflow and floodplain connections in degraded stream channels impacted by fire in the Okanogan and Methow river watersheds
• $735,000 to the City of Hoquiam to complete the final design and permitting to remove the West Fork Hoquiam River Dam and restore the stream
• $5 million to the Kittitas Reclamation District to enclose a portion of the reclamation district's South Branch Irrigation Canal to eliminate water loss and use the saved water to supplement streamflows on Manastash Creek to improve salmonid habitat

The Streamflow Restoration Competitive Grants Program began in 2018 with the passage of the Streamflow Restoration Act. The Washington Legislature authorized $300 million in bond funds over the course of 15 years to support projects that improve streamflow. Ecology administers these funds through streamflow restoration competitive grants. Including the $40 million available this cycle, the Legislature has authorized $180 million in grants to date.