WaterSMART Grants

Reclamation Regions

Lower Colorado Region

To manage, develop, and protect water and related resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner in the interest of the American public.

Reclamation Mission

Overview

• Reclamation and NRCS Partnership

• WaterSMART Grants/Programs

• General Planning

For Release: June 23, 2016

The U.S. Departments of Interior and Agriculture today

announced more than $47 million in investments to help

water districts and producers on private working lands

better conserve water resources. The funds include $15

million in USDA funds and $32.6 million from the Bureau

of Reclamation for local projects to improve water and

energy efficiency and provide a strengthened federal

response to ongoing and potential drought across 13

states in the West.

BOR and NRCS

• Funding is available through WaterSMART for water

delivery system improvements that will enable farmers

to make additional on-farm improvements in the future,

including improvements that may be eligible for Natural

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) funding.

BOR and NRCS

• NRCS

– Applicants may include individuals, legal entities, joint

operations or Indian tribes.

– 25% non-federal cost-shared funding on a competitive basis

• BOR

– States, Indian tribes, irrigation districts, water districts, and

other organizations with water or power delivery authority

– 50% non-federal cost-shared funding on a competitive basis

BOR and NRCS

WaterSMART ProgramSustain and Manage America’s Resources for

Tomorrow

• Working to achieve a sustainable water strategy to meet the Nation’s water needs

WaterSMART Program

Advanced Water Treatment, Pilot &

Demonstration Project Grants

Cooperative Watershed Management Grants

System Optimization Review Grants Drought Program

Title XVI – Water Recycling & Reuse

Program

Climate Analysis ToolsBasin Studies Program

Water & Energy Efficiency Grants

Demonstration Projects

West-wide Climate Risk Assessments

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

System Optimization Review Grants

• Analysis of system-wide

improvements for the

effectiveness and

operations of a delivery

system, district, or

watershed

• A report identifying specific improvements to increase efficiency, including a plan of action for implementing the recommendations

• Completing an SOR will help identify potential projects and develop the supporting documentation necessary to apply for Water and Energy Efficiency Grants under the WaterSMART Program.


• The Harlingen Irrigation District in the Lower Rio Grande Valley in Texas measured past water conservation improvements to prioritize future projects. The District assessed canal conveyance efficiency, application of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), automation, control structures, river and ancillary pumping, off-channel storage, and re-regulation of storage

• Providence City in Utah assessed improved management of irrigation water for the Blacksmith Fork River. The City will quantifed the amount of water to be conserved as a result of converting open canal to pipeline and the amount of water that could be better managed using a pressurized irrigation system


• Projects that save water,

improve energy efficiency,

address endangered

species and other

environmental issues, and

facilitate transfers to new

use

Water and Energy Efficiency Grants

• Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) and

Automation: Projects that install SCADA and/or automation

components that provide water savings when irrigation

delivery system operational efficiency is improved to reduce

spills, over-deliveries, and seepage. Projects include, but are

not limited to:

– Installing SCADA components that allow for remote monitoring of

irrigation delivery system conditions (flow rates, water elevations,

controls devices openings, etc.)

– Installing automation components that allow for remote operation of

delivery system control features (gates, valves, turnouts, etc.)


• Canal Lining/Piping: Projects that line or pipe canals,

resulting in conserved water. Projects include, but are

not limited to:

– Installing new proven lining materials or technology

– Converting open canals to pipeline

– Constructing conveyance improvements, turnouts, pipelines, or

intertie systems


• Irrigation Flow Measurement: Projects that improve

measurement accuracy and result in reduced spills and

over-deliveries to irrigators. Projects include, but are

not limited to:

– Installing weirs, flumes, ramps, etc. in open channels

– Installing meters in pressurized pipes


• North Gila Valley Irrigation & Drainage District

(NGVIDD), AZ

– McPherson Lateral Lining Project• NGVIDD proposes enlarging a portion of the McPherson lateral which

provides water to 6,587 acres in the district. Currently the McPherson

lateral is 7,393 feet and the district is proposing concrete re-lining 2,210 of

the 7,393 feet with a larger cross-section. The lateral will be rebuilt with a

new pad increased to 40" and includes necessary gate and crossing work.

• Yuma Irrigation District (YID), AZ

– SCADA Installation


• Yuma Irrigation District (YID), AZ

– Pump Upgrade• YID is installing new pumps at one of its five pumping stations. The District

will upgrade 2 pumps at the 16.4N pumping station.

• Unit B Irrigation & Drainage District, AZ

– Pipeline Replacement• Unit B will replace (2) 18 inch, leaking reinforced concrete/mortar pipelines

with 1,200 linear feet of (1) 30 inch PS-46 (PVC) pipeline.


Drought Program

• Develop a drought contingency plan or to update an

existing plan

• Plans are required to include participation by multiple

stakeholders to address issues important to different

sectors (e.g., agricultural, municipal, and

environmental).

• Plans developed must include consideration of climate

change impacts to water supplies, in order to support

long term resiliency to climate change.

Drought Contingency Plan

• Drought resiliency projects increase water management

flexibility, making water supplies more resilient, and

thereby helping to prepare for and address the impacts

of drought and climate change.

• Proposals must demonstrate that the project is

supported by an existing drought planning effort.

Drought Resiliency Projects

Basin Studies Program• Collaborative studies to

evaluate impacts of

climate change and help

ensure water supplies by

addressing projected

imbalances between

supply and demand

• State-of-the-art projections of future supply and

demand by river basin, including the impacts of climate

change.

• An analysis of how the basin’s existing water and power

operations and infrastructure will perform in the face of

changing water realities.

• Development of adaptation and mitigation strategies to

meet current and future water demands.

• A trade-off analysis of the adaptation and mitigation

strategies identified.

Basin Studies Program

• Competitive program to allocate funds for BOR support

of Basin Study activities to match cash or in-kind

contributions from cost-share partners within the 3 year

period of the study.

• Eligible cost-share applicants are organizations with

water delivery or water management authority within a

watershed basin.


• 2012 Colorado River Basin Study Completed

• Current Arizona Basin Studies

– West Salt River Valley Basin Study

– Lower Santa Cruz River Basin Study


• Establish or enlarge a watershed group, plan and carry

out watershed management projects

• Announced June 27, 2016 funding for further

development of a cooperative watershed management

group

– Tse Si Ani Chapter: Working Across Tribal Borders: Restoring

the Black Mesa Watersheds Together

Cooperative Watershed Management Grants

• Projects designed to better manage water resources,

including tools to assess climate change impacts on

water resources

Climate Analysis Tools

Advanced Water Treatment Pilot and Demonstration Project Grants

• Projects that address technical,

economic and environmental

viability of treating brackish

groundwater, seawater, impaired

waters; or create new water

supplies

• Loving County in Texas received

funding in 2011 to study treating

brackish groundwater with wind

powered vapor compression

technology

Title XVI – Water Recycling and Reuse Program

• Planning, design, and construction of water recycling

and reuse projects

Water Conservation Demonstration Projects

• Demonstrate innovative technologies in water conservation to increase technical understanding of unfamiliar water management and conservation principles and practices that have not been previously used locally. A demonstration project's purpose is to install or apply a particular technology in a new way, or in a new setting, with the intent of reporting the results to others for potential wider adoption.

West-wide Climate Risk Assessments

• Provide a baseline assessment of climate change impacts to water supply and demand across the western states.

• Evaluate risks to water supplies related to changes in snowpack, timing and quantity of runoff, and changes in groundwater recharge and discharge.

• Evaluate risks to water supplies related to increase in the demand for water as a result of increasing temperatures and reservoir evaporation rates.

Landscape Conservation Cooperatives

• The LCCs are partnerships of governmental and non-governmental entities

• The primary goal of the LCCsis to bring together science and resource management to inform climate adaptation strategies to address climate change and other stressors within an ecological region

• Arizona part of Southern Rockies LCC and Desert LCC

General Planning• Support ongoing water resource management activities and

new initiatives to address these challenges

• Apply planning techniques and technical expertise to help understand and deal with water supply and demand issues; build and sustain partnerships

• Resource investigation activities, including preliminary examinations of economic and technical solutions to water supply challenges, advanced scoping of studies approved for future-year funding, short-term unanticipated investigation activities and participation on interagency study teams.

http://www.usbr.gov/WaterSMART/

WaterSMART Program

Questions?Jessica Asbill-CaseWater Resources Program ManagerPhoenix Area Office

Email: [email protected]: 623-773-6273

Presented by:

WaterSMART Grants - USDA

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