Washington State Conservation Commission

The Washington State Conservation Commission reported this month that 11,977 acre-feet of water will be conserved each year thanks to 40 projects made possible by the Irrigation Efficiencies Grants Program.  Water savings will be managed in the Trust Water Rights Program for instream flows.

Through state-provided funding and technical assistance from local conservation districts, farmers in seven out of 16 designated drought-critical basins have voluntarily completed projects such as pivot sprinkler systems, drip irrigation systems, and piped conveyance systems, to achieve on-the-ground water conservation.

The water saved by these projects means more water for salmon streams in our state.

Program Manager Jon Culp said, "The participating conservation districts have created an extremely successful, locally-led solution for reducing the competition between irrigated agriculture and low stream flows for our precious water resources."

A full report summarizing the accomplishments of the Irrigation Efficiencies Grants Program is available:  2008 Irrigation Efficiencies Grant Program annual report 4.67 Mb