USDA announces funding to help California during drought

Jun 25, 2015

Upwards of $210 million being invested

As California continues to fight through some of the worst drought on record, the United States Department of Agriculture is coming to the state’s aid with a multi- million dollar announcement.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, along with Interior Deputy Secretary Mike Connor and John Laird, California Secretary for Natural Resources announced a partnership to help in the conservation and restoration of the Sierra-Cascade California Headwaters – which provides about 25 million Californians with drinking water and irrigates farms in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys.

The investment breaks down as follows:

Approximate total of $210 million from the USDA’s Forest Service (FS), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Interior Department, State of California, non-profit organizations and private landowners.

Along with the partnership, the USDA is making $13.7 million available to California farmers and ranchers through the NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), and another $6 million for communities struggling with drought via the Emergency Community Water Assistance Grants.

"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," said Vilsack. "Healthy forests and meadows play a key role in ensuring water quality, yield and reliability throughout the year." Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack

The government’s investment will work together with California Governor Jerry Brown’s Water Action Plan – that will see about $81 million devoted to restoring the ecosystem in the Sierra Nevada.

In May, USDA set aside $21 million through EQIP for farmers and ranchers to use scientific methods to come up with ways to minimize the drought’s impact on a short and long-term scale. Of the original amount, $13.7 million is being reserved specifically for farmers.

Join the conversation and tell us your thoughts about the government’s investment into helping California battle its ongoing drought.

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