In sowing cowpea's cultivation, adverse factors such as water stress may adversely affect the establishment of the stand . In this sense, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the germination of seeds of two varieties of cowpea under the influence of different levels of available water in the soil. The experiment was conducted under plastic tunnel conditions the Federal University of Campina Grande, Campus de Pombal, Paraíba, adopting the experimental randomized block design with the treatments distributed in factorial arrangement 4 x 2, corresponding to four levels of available water (40, 60, 80 and 100%) and two varieties of cowpea (BRS Pujante and Costela de vaca), with three repetitions. They were evaluated: First Emergency Count, emergency speed index and emergency percentage. The levels of available water in the soil of 40 and 60% Water available are limiting in the initial development stage of the cowpea, reducing the emergence of both varieties studied. The level of 80% of available water in the soil is satisfactory the emergence of the cowpea plants, regardless of the variety. The costela de vaca variety obtained higher percentages of emergence and greater vigor under water stress conditions, than the BRS Pujante variety.