2010 Conservation Innovation Grants Awarded for California

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USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Aug 05, 2010, 05:28 ET

DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Seven private companies and conservation and agricultural organizations have been awarded Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) totaling $375,000. The ultimate goal of the grants is to help the Agency and California farmers and ranchers with technical tools to protect natural resources.

State Conservationist Lincoln E. Burton of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) announced the awarding of the grants that range from less than $10,000 up to $75,000 (the maximum allowed). All contain at least a 50 percent match from non-federal sources, as required by the program.

"The conservation landscape constantly changes and challenges us to be nimble in our ability to address these issues. Some of our best ideas for developing and adapting our technical tools to address modern challenges come from private groups and individuals," said Burton. "The current set of awardees will bring us new insights into conservation technical solutions for water resources, grazing lands, energy, air quality and more."

2010 Selected Projects
Project Applicant	Project Summary	Area: Counties	Number Project Years	Total Project Amount	NRCS Total Request Amount
Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz County	Improve conservation outcomes for water quality, create new economic opportunities for farmers, and create a replicable model to be used by others	Santa Cruz County	1	$142,207	$74,477.00
California Native Plant Society	To establish baseline knowledge about natural grasslands and invasive plants on grazing lands	Merced, San Luis Obispo and Kern Counties	2	$132,069	$65,791.00
Dixon Ridge Farms	Demonstrate and promote novel methods to conserve irrigation water and energy	Yolo County	1	$19,939	$9,969.33
Sustainable Conservation	Increase opportunities for renewable energy production from methane digesters	Visalia and Tulare Counties	2	$124,400	$62,199.77
Mission Resource Conservation District	Irrigation optimization and riparian buffers for improved water quality	North San Diego County	2	$83,180	$38,562.90
Solum, Inc.	Demonstrate the viability of using Solum's rapid soil nitrate measurement technology for in season management of nitrogen	Monterey County	2	$110,780	$49,000.00
Texas AgriLife Research	Reducing PM emissions from almond harvest operation through innovative harvester design	Kern County	1	$150,000	$75,000.00
				$762,574	$375,000

The current CIG projects will be completed in one to two years. The CIG grants were established in the 2008 Farm Bill as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program. Additional information is available online at http://www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service