Question 1

What United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding programs are available to help OGWRP producers with the costs of transferring off the Odessa aquifer and on to Columbia River water?

Accepted Answer

Together with local Legislators, landowners, and other partners, the Grant County Conservation District is working to secure funds to support the design and implementation of the infrastructure that will be needed to serve deep well irrigators in the Odessa Subarea. In particular, there are three programs delivered through USDA NRCS that will be extremely helpful in helping to fund the different components of OGWRP. The Small Watershed Program (PL 566) can provide funding for the pumping plants and lateral lines to your farms.  PL 566 can provide 100% of engineering and 75% of lateral line construction costs up to $25 million per project.  Each pumping plant and lateral is considered an individual project and work can be done over several years.  The Conservation District is applying to this program in Fall 2021 to help fund the pumping plants at the East Low Canal and the laterals out to the farms. The Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) can provide funding for on-farm projects (such as booster pumps, mainlines, or other structural projects) to make hook ups to the new laterals possible.  RCPP has a cap or limit of $10 million and has a dollar-for-dollar match requirement. With the required match dollars, there could be up to $20 million available for projects within a designated RCPP area. The Conservation District is applying to this program in the Fall of 2021 to help fund on-farm projects for producers connecting to the EL 11.8, EL 22.1, EL 79.2 and EL 86.4 laterals.  If successful, the funds would be made available in 2022 and construction would need to occur within 5 years. In addition, NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) can provide funding for on-farm projects if they are determined to be a priority for your area.  Details on eligibility requirements, cost share rates, and enrollment details can be found at your local NRCS office.

Question 2

Are group projects allowed in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and Rural Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)?

Accepted Answer

Yes. There may be situations where a group project would be the most cost-effective way to deliver water from the newly installed irrigation district laterals to multiple farms.  For example, four farms need to access water from the irrigation district lateral one mile away.   One alternative would be to have four valves at the lateral with four pipelines side by side running one mile to each farm.  This does not appear to be an efficient approach.  In this example, a group project would make sense.   Rather than installing four pipelines, four farm entities could apply for a group project to install one pipeline that would service all four farms, saving on pipe and construction costs.   Cost-share per farm would be determined at the time of contract development with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). This is also a great example of how important it is to work closely with lateral design engineers early in the planning phase.   See the text below that comes directly from the NRCS programs manual that outlines how group projects are allowed as a viable option for achieving the most environmental and cost-effective way of achieving your goals.     From Natural Resources Conservation Service programs manual:   “Group Projects—Participants may enroll in joint contracts according to guidelines established in the program-specific subparts of the NRCS programs manual. These projects comprise two or more eligible applicants on two or more operations, intending to pool resources, efforts, finances, or other contributions to address the same resource concerns collaboratively. Joint participation is permitted when it will result in greater environmental benefit than individual participation, or cost savings. All producers receive direct or indirect benefits from the group project that meet eligibility requirements.”

Question 3

Assuming the OGWRP is approved for watershed planning under PL-566, when is the earliest PL-566 funding could become available for engineering and construction costs?"

Accepted Answer

Based on the current timeline, we anticipate PL-566 funding could become available for engineering and constructions costs in early to mid-2024.   For the latest updates and more details, visit our "PL-566 Timeline for OGWRP" page here.

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