Pioneered by The Nature Conservancy and partners, water funds have traditionally united public, private and civil society stakeholders around a common goal of enhanced water security through nature-based solutions and sustainable watershed management. Over 29 water funds exist worldwide, with another 30 under development. These water funds almost exclusively utilize public and philanthropic grants as the primary source of capital.

The Revolving Water Fund model advances the traditional water fund approach by calculating the economic value of conservation outcomes, and transferring these values under market-based offtake contracts to public and private purchasers. This market-based approach allows for new sources of upfront capital to quickly develop expanded pipelines of conservation projects, thereby increasing the scale and velocity of major watershed restoration efforts.

Catalytic development capital was provided by the William Penn Foundation and the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Innovation Grant Program.