One change to the water policy landscape since the beginning of the Trump administration is not only the lack of open federal requests for proposals funded by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), but also the closing of previously open requests for proposals. Agencies disseminating the bulk of this funding — namely the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of the Interior (DOI), and the Department of Agriculture (USDA) — under the Biden administration pushed out as much funding as they could in their final days, anticipating such a priority pivot.
Currently, the Water Program Portal’s Opportunities Dashboard surfaces four active requests for proposals worth a total of $1.345 billion in available funding, of which $120 million is competitively available. The remainder is largely available as formula funding to state, territory, and Tribal governments. Six others were opened in the Biden era, but either had their deadlines pushed forward to before the Trump administration’s entry, was paused upon the Trump administration’s initiation, or was canceled entirely. These grant opportunities are detailed in Table 1.
Table 1: Active, Canceled, and Paused IIJA and IRA Funding Opportunities
| Opportunity Name | Original Due Date | Current Status | Funding |
| WaterSMART Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Projects for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and 2026: First Submittal | 4/15/2025 | Opportunity paused for review as of 1/31/2025. | $95,000,000 |
| NOAA’s Transformational Habitat Restoration and Coastal Resilience Grants Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law Round 3 | 4/16/2025 | Application due 4/16/2025. | $100,000,000 |
| Bipartisan Infrastructure Law – San Francisco Bay Water Quality Improvement Fund | 4/17/2025 | Opportunity canceled. | $2,000,000 |
| Port Infrastructure Development Program FY2025 | 4/30/2025 | Opportunity canceled. | $450,000,000 |
| Coastal Habitat Restoration and Resilience Grants for Tribes and Underserved Communities, Under the BIL Round 3 | 5/12/2025 | Application due 5/12/2025. | $20,000,000 |
| WaterSMART Cooperative Watershed Management Program Phase I for Fiscal Year 2025 | 5/20/2025 | Opportunity paused as of 2/4/2025. | $300,000 |
| Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Program FY2024 NOFO | 6/30/2025 | Formula funding earmarked; open to applications from states until 6/30/2025. | $725,000,000 |
| National Fish Passage Program Bipartisan Infrastructure Law: Restoring River, Floodplain, and Coastal Connectivity and Resiliency FY25 Funds | 9/30/2025 | Opportunity closed; application was open to only selected applicants. Deadline was pushed forward to 12/31/2024. | $70,000,000 |
| Fiscal Year 2024 Flood Mitigation Assistance Swift Current | 1/15/2026 | Opportunity open to state, territory, and Tribal governments. Application due 1/15/2026. | $500,000,000 |
| WaterSMART Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Projects for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and 2026: Second Submittal | 2/17/2026 | Opportunity paused as of 1/31/2025. | $95,000,000 |
Source: Water Program Portal — Opportunities Dashboard.
Little to no information about why these grants in particular have been canceled, paused, or allowed to stay open is available. A scan of federal agencies’ websites reflects a similar opacity. On the EPA’s News Releases page, no press releases have been tagged or attributed to IIJA or IRA since January 13th. Recent press releases also do not contain information about awards or new requests for proposals or public comment opportunities.
Several awards have been announced by the DOI, although very few are attributable to IIJA or IRA. Many of the big dollar announcements have to do with oil and gas lease sales, a distinct turn in tone from the administration pre-Trump. One $13 million award has been announced, however, from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund’s IIJA investments. The press release does not attribute the three grants to North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas to IIJA, nor does it explain that the $13 million originated from a Biden-era $725 million earmark and an extension of the Abandoned Mine Lands program through 2034. The extension announcement is in the archived content section of the DOI’s newsroom, which now only reflects about 20 press releases released since January 20th.
At the USDA, the IIJA and other infrastructure-related clearinghouse pages have been taken down, in addition to the USDA Press Releases page being swept of Biden-era press releases and resources. New funding announcements also largely skirt mentions or IIJA and IRA and programs originated by the programs. Instead, announcements focus on new agricultural trade programs and the expansion of biofuel production and infrastructure. More pertinently for water, a $280 block grant has been assigned to support Rio Grande Valley farmers.
Several programs that did receive some IIJA or IRA funding — the Rural Energy For America Program (REAP), Empowering Rural America (New ERA) and Powering Affordable Clean Energy (PACE) programs — are slowly having their obligated funding released, as reported by a March 25th press release. However, recipients are now required to edit project plans to align with President Trump’s Unleashing American Energy Executive Order.
While there is not as high of a volume of funding flowing from federal agencies at this juncture, particularly relating to unspent IIJA and IRA funding, there are still some open calls for applications, which the Water Program Portal will continue to monitor — with updates to our Opportunities dashboard accordingly. Robust legal and technical assistance exist, including those to help find federal funding, protect awarded federal funding, and to stay up-to-date on the federal funding landscape.
