USDA Announces $10.7 Million for Critical Water Research Grants

USDA has announced the availability of $10.7 million in funding for research on solutions for critical water problems in rural and agricultural watersheds across the United States.  This funding is available through the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Water for Agriculture Challenge Area.  Universities, non-profits, and others may submit projects that tackle critical water issues in two principal areas:  developing regional systems for the sustainable use and reuse, flow, and management of water, and projects that address water issues focused on production and environmental sustainability efforts at the watershed and farm scale. There is also a focus on solutions for conserving higher quality water and understanding human behavior and its influence on decision making for agricultural water use in the Fiscal Year 2016 projects.

To date, more than $20.5 million has been awarded through AFRI’s Water for Agriculture Challenge Area.  Two examples of successful projects are a grant for the University of Nevada-Reno’s Coordinated Agricultural Project to assess the impacts of climate change on future water supplies and enhance the climate resiliency of tribal agriculture; and a grant for Clemson University to integrate remote sensing products and weather forecast information for farmers and growers to address the best products, increase agricultural drought indices, and develop an agricultural drought forecasting model to provide near real-time feedback.

For more information, view the press release and visit the web site.