USDA offers funding to protect water quality in drought hit California

US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has formed a new partnership with the US Department of the Interior (DOI) and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to support water conservation and restoration programmes in drought-hit California.

The initiative is also supported by the state government and private landowners.

The partners’ intention to invest a minimum of around $210m for the Sierra-Cascade California Headwaters is in line with US president’s Resilient Lands and Waters initiative.

California Secretary for Natural Resources John Laird said: "California’s Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ecosystems are the lifeblood of water for 25 million Californians, our agricultural industry, and the health of downstream estuaries and species."

Under the terms of the agreement, NRCS and USDA’s Forest Service (FS) unit are likely to invest $130m in the partnership.

USDA will also offer $13.7m to California producers and ranchers through NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP).

Another $6m is likely to be given to drought-stricken communities through Rural Development’s Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants (ECWAG).

US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said: "As several years of historic drought continue to plague parts of the Western United States, there is a significant opportunity and responsibility across federal, state and private lands to protect and improve the landscapes that generate our most critical water supplies."