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California Nets $2.9 Million in State and National Conservation Innovation Grant Projects

Contact:
Anita Brown (530) 792-5644
Alan Forkey (530) 792-5653
Mark Parson (530) 792-5660

DAVIS, Calif., June 27, 2007—State Conservationist Lincoln E. Burton announced today awards of nearly $380,000 in Conservation Innovative Grants (CIG) to six California organizations. Burton also announced that five additional CIG grants have been awarded to California organizations through the national CIG program, bringing to $2.9 million the state- and nationally-funded projects with benefits to California.

The funds, provided through USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), will assist the groups in developing and refining cutting-edge technologies to help agricultural producers sustain resources, maintain viability and improve their operations.

"Cooperative efforts such as those supported through this program provide an excellent opportunity for public-private partnerships that can effectively promote innovative technologies and approaches to environmental enhancement on working lands," states Burton.

Burton said that in addition to the national criteria used in administering this 2002 Farm Bill program California has added an emphasis on helping farmers, ranchers and other land managers to comply with environmental regulations.

Following is a list of California’s 2007 Conservation Innovation Grants (CIG) Awardees:

Entity

Project Title

Funding Approved
J. Filippi Vintage Company, Inc. Winery Wastewater Treatment for Vineyard Irrigation $47,500
Central Coast Resource Conservation & Development Council, Inc. Use of Sub-Irrigation to Improve Water Quality; Conserve Energy and Increase Productivity in the Greenhouse Environment $35,073
California Association of Conservation Districts Misting: A Viable Conservation Management Practice for Reducing PM-10 Generated by Disking (Vineyard) $75,000
Sustainable Conservation Demonstration and Evaluation of Draghose Injection Technology for Dairy Manure Management in the San Joaquin Valley $75,000
Central Coast Vineyard Team Developing Market Incentives for the Increased Adoption of Conservation Practices In Wine Grapes $75,000
The Sustainable Cotton Project Creating a Market for Cleaner Cotton with the Cleaner Cotton Market Online $72,046

Total Funding Approved – CA CIG Grants: $379,619

This is the third year that CIG grants have been made available by the NRCS California state office. Sixteen proposals were screened by technical teams as well as subcommittees of the California State Technical Advisory Committee. Final selection was by the California State Conservationist. Selected California CIG awardees can receive up to $75,000 with a 50 percent nonfederal match required. Nationally awarded projects may be funded up to $1 million with a 50 percent match requirement.

Following is a list of the nationally approved 2007 Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) Awardees with benefits to California:

Entity

Project Title

Funding Approved
California Dairy Campaign Economic & environmental demonstration & evaluation of using flocculation/precipitation of solids in dairy waste lagoons $103,045
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts Misting: A Viable Conservation Management Practice for Reducing PM10 Generated by Disking (Row Crops) $210,651
Environmental Defense Greenhouse gas emissions reduction practices on rice farms in the Sacramento Valley $557,819
California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance - Sure Harvest Breaking through adoption barriers: market based conservation approaches & regulatory incentive opportunities to drive the adoption of conservation practices $607,500
AgRefresh (Multiple State Application) The Biofuels Acceleration Project (BAP) $622,500
Michigan State University (Multiple State) Development of a National Air Quality Self Assessment Tool $443,410

Total Funding Approved – National CIG Grants: $2,544,925

The 2002 Farm Bill established the CIG grants as part of the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP). The grants seek to engage multiple sectors of the agricultural community such as state and local agencies, community organizations, businesses, and others in identifying, testing, and implementing innovative environmental solutions and accelerating technology transfer.

Additional information regarding the CIG program and the 2007 year program awards is available at www.ca.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/ or from Alan Forkey, Program Manager, NRCS, Davis, California; alan.forkey@ca.usda.gov or (530) 792-5653.

Additional information about CIG, including summaries of approved projects, is available at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig. A chart for a listing of FY 2007 CIG projects (PDF) can be found at www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/cig/2007awards.html.

 

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