EQIP WaterSMART Initiative Priority Area announced within MRNRD

LINCOLN, Neb. -- The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has selected 31 priority areas to receive $13 million in Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) funding as part of the WaterSMART Initiative (WSI). These investments will help producers on private working lands better conserve water resources in coordination with investments made by water suppliers.

“Our farmers and ranchers are stepping up to the plate to partner with communities to gain efficiencies to better conserve our water supply,” said Jason Kennedy, NRCS, District Conservationist. “Working with the WaterSMART Initiative allows us to make a bigger impact where it’s most needed.”

The priority areas are part of a collaborative effort between NRCS and the U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation to modernize existing infrastructure and otherwise build drought resilience. The bureau’s WaterSMART programs, available in the Western U.S., work with states, tribes, and local entities to increase water supply. NRCS helps farmers and ranchers voluntarily address water quantity resource concerns and agricultural drought stress. By aligning investments through WSI, NRCS aims to improve water conservation and drought resilience.

The 31 WaterSMART Initiative Priority Areas for FY2021 are in 10 different western states, including one in the Middle Republican NRD, Nebraska. The Middle Republican NRD was awarded $523,215.00 through this initiative.

An example priority area is the Quick Response area located within the MRNRD. The Quick Response area covers portions of a four counties located within the MRNRD, Frontier, Hayes, Red Willow and Hitchcock counties. The MRNRD used WaterSMART funds to deploy near real-time telemetry equipment on 1,000 irrigation flow meters within the quick response area of the district for improved on-farm water management and reporting of water use to the district. These meters will be used in conjunction with weather stations and soil moisture probes spread across the district to give producers real-time data for improved water use decisions. This project will greatly improve on-farm water conservation in the district and preserve and enhance groundwater for baseflow in the Republican River Valley in Nebraska.

Through this initiative NRCS provides eligible EQIP applicants within the MRNRD quick response area with the additional resources and tools needed to manage soil moisture, improve irrigation water use efficiency in cropland and protect irrigation water sources from depletion. Examples of eligible conservation practices include water usage efficiency improvements by converting gravity irrigation to subsurface drip or center pivots, installation of soil moisture probes and permanently converting irrigated cropland to dryland cropland.

Kennedy said that producers within the Middle Republican NRD’s Quick Response area who are interested in inquiring into applying for these EQIP funds must sign up in their local USDA NRCS service center by the March 12th application deadline. Eligible farmers and ranchers found in a selected priority area will be automatically ranked in the EQIP WSI targeted fund pool when they apply for EQIP funding.

By coordinating NRCS’s EQIP and Reclamation’s WaterSMART investments, this federal collaboration works to ensure that water users conserve this vital resource for use during droughts or use by others in the community needing it for clean drinking water or energy, industry, management of wetlands, streams, rivers, and lakes, and other uses. This collaboration is a priority of the National Drought Resilience Partnership.

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