California Receives $6 Million for Water Enhancement Projects

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USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Jul 07, 2010, 08:15 ET

DAVIS, Calif., July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) California State Office received approximately $6 million for Agricultural Water Enhancement Program (AWEP) projects to improve water quality and quantity on hundreds of farms throughout the state. For the second year in a row, California received the largest amount of funding in the United States for nine different AWEP projects.

"AWEP is a voluntary conservation initiative that provides financial and technical assistance to farmers and ranchers to improve water conditions and conserve valuable water resources on their agricultural land," said Ed Burton, NRCS State Conservationist for California. Nationwide, nearly $20 million will be used to fund 28 AWEP projects in 10 states.

AWEP was established by the 2008 Farm Bill as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), a program administered by NRCS. AWEP projects are unique from traditional EQIP contracts in that applications for funding are made directly to USDA from an organization on behalf of a group of agricultural producers who intend to make water improvements in a geographic area.

AWEP partners include federally recognized Indian tribes, states, units of local government, agricultural associations and non-governmental organizations. Applications from individual agricultural producers within a given AWEP project area are ranked according to the conservation resource need. Producers whose applications are selected enter into individual contracts with NRCS.

Approved California AWEP projects are:


Organization	Project	Purpose	2010 Award
Columbia Canal Co.	Improving Irrigation Efficiency and Protecting Groundwater Resources	A four-year project to improve irrigation efficiency and protect groundwater resources	$215,000
Colusa-Glenn Sub-watershed	A Partnership to Improve Surface and Ground Water Quality and Quantity in Colusa Basin Watershed, CA	A five-year project to improve surface and ground water quality and quantity in the Colusa Basin Watershed	$1,199,800
Fall River Resource Conservation District	Lower Pit River Watershed Partnership	A five-year project to improve water conservation and water quality	$400,000
Honey Lake Resource Conservation District	Lower Susan River Watershed Partnership	A five-year project to improve surface water quality	$749,429
Palo Verde Resource Conservation District	Eastern Riverside AWEP Project	A four-year project to conserve surface water and groundwater, and enhance water quality	$175,000
Farm Bureau San Diego	San Diego County Water Enhancement Program	A five-year project to conserve and enhance agricultural water sources including groundwater, surface water, municipal water and recycled water	$800,000
Western Shasta Resource Conservation District	Improving ACID Water Use Efficiency	A four-year project to improve water management, water quality, flood damage and erosion control	$607,434
Western United Dairymen	Dairy Infrastructure and Retrofit Project to Promote Ground and Surface Water Conservation and Water Quality Improvement in the Ca Central valley	A two-year project to improve ground and surface water conservation and water quality on animal feeding operations	$1,000,000
Yolo County Resource Conservation District	A Partnership Improve Water Quality and Enhance Conservation Efforts on Rangeland in the Sacramento Valley Cluster	A five-year project to improve water quality and enhance conservation efforts on rangeland	$750,000
		TOTAL	$5,896,663

NRCS California received $18 million in Fiscal Year 2009 to fund 15 projects aimed at improving irrigation efficiency, nutrient management, groundwater quality and many more conservation practices.

NRCS will announce sign-up information, for farmers and ranchers in approved project areas, in the coming weeks. For more information on the project goals and boundaries, contact your local NRCS field office. For a listing of offices statewide see http://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=CA

The Natural Resources Conservation Service provides leadership in a partnership effort to help

people conserve, maintain and improve our natural resources and environment.

An Equal Opportunity Provider and Employer

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service