USDA Announces New Water Conservation Funding for Ogallala Aquifer Region
USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is investing $6.5 million in FY ’15 funding through the Ogallala Aquifer Initiative (OAI) to help farmers and ranchers conserve billions of gallons of water and improve water quality over the next four years. Funding will be targeted to seven focus areas in five states (Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, and Texas) to support their primary water source and strengthen rural economies. The Ogallala supports nearly one-fifth of the wheat, corn, cotton and cattle produced in the US. It has long been the main water supply for the High Plains’ region and is being depleted at an unsustainable rate. This conservation investment builds on $66 million that NRCS has invested through OAI since 2011, which helped farmers and ranchers conserve water on more than 325,000 acres. View the NRCS news release HERE.
