The USDA announced on Feb. 13 new investments and strategies to help farmers and ranchers conserve water, address climate change and build drought resilience in the West, supported in part by funding from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
According to a USDA release, the NRCS’s Framework for Conservation Action will guide implementation of the WaterSMART Initiative's investment of $25 million in three new priority areas (in California, Hawaii and Washington state) and 37 existing priority areas across the West. The NRCS leveraged stakeholder feedback from a public listening session, input from the field and the latest scientific data to shape and inform the framework.
The $25 million investment is the result of a collaboration with the NRCS and the Department of Interior’s (DOI) WaterSMART Initiative to help farmers and ranchers conserve water and promote drought resilience in their communities. These investments complement projects led by irrigation districts, water suppliers and other organizations receiving WaterSMART program funds from the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. The NRCS will work with the Bureau of Reclamation to coordinate investments in the same community to accelerate water conservation and drought resilience and make a bigger impact where it is most needed.
“Record-breaking drought and exhausted water supplies are hurting agricultural operations and entire communities,” NRCS Chief Terry Cosby said in a statement. “WaterSMART investments are being directed where they can have the most impact, and the new Western Water and Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action lays the foundation for helping producers and communities address pressing climate challenges and build resiliency for the future."
Across much of the arid West, producers have struggled in recent years to irrigate their crops due to inadequate precipitation. The NRCS has identified six major water and working land management challenges resulting from threats to water supply in the West:
- Forecasting water supply
- Sustaining agricultural productivity
- Protecting groundwater availability
- Protecting surface water availability
- Managing and restoring range and forest lands
- Responding to disruptions from catastrophic events
The NRCS intends to use this framework to set goals for effective program delivery and coordinate and track progress on helping individuals, entities and communities across the West address management, conservation and resiliency needs.
More information on the WaterSMART Initiative, as well as on the Western Water and Working Lands Framework for Conservation Action, is available at the NRCS website.
