Funding Available for Agricultural Hydropower Projects

From CDA: The Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA) andthe U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources ConservationService (NRCS) are seeking applicants for on-farm agriculturalhydropower projects. The total amount of available assistance for thisround is $1,300,000.

The funding is available to Colorado agriculturalirrigators with appropriate hydropower resources.“This program gives producers a way to cut their costs and use theirresources efficiently. It’s about water quantity, water quality, andenergy resources,” said Sam Anderson, CDA’s Energy Specialist, “Wefocus on helping farmers upgrade outdated and labor-intensiveflood-irrigation systems to more efficient pressurized-irrigationsystems using hydropower, or retrofit existing sprinkler systems witha hydropower component.”The funding is part of the NRCS Regional Conservation PartnershipProgram (RCPP). Within RCPP, the Colorado irrigation hydropowerprogram provides funding to agricultural producers to help them addhydropower to new or existing irrigation systems.For example, past projects have helped farmers use irrigation water togenerate electricity, offsetting some of the cost of power for thosefarms. Other projects have allowed farmers to run large center-pivotsprinkler systems on hydro-mechanical power without the need for anyelectricity.

The overall hydro program is funded and assisted by 14 agencies andgroups, collectively contributing $3 million to the effort for projectfunding and technical assistance for Colorado agricultural producers.CDA is currently accepting applications for the next round of RCPPirrigation hydro projects. The application deadline is January 18,2019. Applicants must be eligible to receive funding from the NRCSEQIP program. For more information and to submit an application, visitthe Colorado Department of Agriculture’s ACRE3 hydropower website:www.colorado.gov/agconservation/hydro-navigation-guide or contact SamAnderson at 303-869-9044 or CDA_hydro@state.co.us.

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