The Freshwater Trust (TFT) will complete 23 high-efficiency irrigation upgrades in 2025 in the Snake River watershed—and get them done in a year. This speed and volume are possible by tapping into the existing equipment and services supply chain. TFT has more than 50 potential projects queued up for 2026 and is replicating this innovative model for large-scale on-farm irrigation modernization across major Western watersheds.
The Snake River program in Idaho and Oregon pays producers to convert their agricultural fields from furrow irrigation to precision irrigation methods such as sprinklers or drip. Conversions eliminate runoff—excess water laden with nutrients and sediment that flows off fields into rivers. In the Snake, this runoff leads to harmful algal blooms and produces toxic methylmercury. Runoff also results in expensive Clean Water Act permit obligations on utilities, creates public health and recreation impacts, and precludes Tribes from harvesting and eating fish.
On-farm irrigation conversions also help producers improve their crop yields, overcome labor shortages, and increase operational flexibility in the face of competing water demands. Due to these benefits, many producers want to upgrade irrigation systems, but most need financial assistance. However, accessing conservation incentives that can help, such as those offered by the USDA NRCS, is also difficult.
“Many producers want precision irrigation, but the upfront costs are steep, and small- to mid-sized family farms often rely on incentives to make the switch,” said Kurt Romans, owner of Romans Precision Irrigation in Vale, Oregon. “Unfortunately, inconsistent program timelines and funding cycles make participation costly, unpredictable, and out of sync with the growing season. As a result, not nearly enough projects happen.”
To address the regional water challenges, TFT built an efficient model that leveraged funding from multiple sources and delivered streamlined funding packages to the highest-impact irrigation projects. This model makes it simpler for producers to opt in and insulates them from the complexity of the conservation funding system so that they are free to focus on their farms and businesses.
This scalable, regional model integrates several key steps:
1. Precision analytics to cost-effectively achieve regional targets
Using its patented BasinScout® Analytics tool, TFT assessed 36,000 irrigated fields (~300,000 acres) across the region. This analysis determined that removing 445,000 pounds of phosphorus runoff should achieve the regional water quality target. TFT then used these analytics to identify 2,000 projects that could achieve the target for the lowest price tag: $210 million. This precision approach saves hundreds of millions of dollars.
2. Fast, scalable recruitment and design driven by the for-profit supply chain
To drive projects at speed and scale, we have partnered with local irrigation equipment suppliers to manage recruitment. These suppliers already hold trusted relationships with producers. TFT provides its analytical insight to suppliers and pays them incentives to secure high-efficiency irrigation projects. We also set a clear “price per pound” subsidy, so suppliers know how much funding we can provide as they design projects with their customers.
3. Fragmented funding organized into a central hub
TFT secured and aggregated multiple sources of incentive funding into a centralized entity. Because there is currently no one responsible for doing this at the watershed scale, TFT formed a wholly owned transaction entity, Irrigation Incentives, LLC, to do this work. To successfully secure enough high-impact projects over time, we expect to need about $150 million in commitments from funding partners. Seed funding from the EPA in 2023 helped jumpstart the effort, and Idaho Power Company made a $100-million commitment in 2024. Additionally, Oregon NRCS is paying TFT to help recruit, vet, and deliver a queue of funding-ready projects. TFT is then working with NRCS, the local EPA 319 grant program, and the Idaho Water Quality Program for Agriculture to co-fund these projects. We continue to work with federal, state, and private partners to round out the funding stack.
4. Simple, on-time funding enabled by private financing
In addition to leveraging the private sector to drive project volume and speed, we are bringing the power of private finance to help bridge cashflow gaps. Most incentive programs reimburse expenses after a project has been installed. This requires producers and suppliers to carry expenses for months. To solve this challenge, TFT secured a $5-million line of credit from Columbia Bank (guaranteed by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust), which allows Irrigation Incentives to advance 50% of the incentive payment upfront. These advances enable producers and suppliers to order equipment on time and avoid price hikes from tariffs and inflation. After equipment is installed and verified, TFT is reimbursed by our funders to pay back the line of credit.
5. Streamlined funding delivery to uniform standards
To help integrate conservation funding cycles that were previously out of sync with growing seasons, TFT has worked closely with each funder to develop a uniform set of project design, eligibility, implementation, and verification requirements. This allows multiple sources of funding to support a single project without having to complete multiple parallel program requirements. TFT has added technical capacity to quickly meet design, environmental, and cultural resource compliance standards in a way that works for all the funding programs. This unglamorous innovation has significantly reduced the time needed to complete each step in the funding process.
A national model for achieving agricultural water resilience
Beyond the Snake River, The Freshwater Trust is working with partners to adapt this approach to the Upper Colorado River Basin. Additionally, the nonprofit organization is working with the USDA Secretary’s Office to evaluate the potential to replicate this model in other Western watersheds.
“In the face of compounding challenges, we need a systematic, replicable approach—and this is it,” said Tim Wigington, Vice President of Policy at The Freshwater Trust. “We are motivated to achieve better outcomes for producers and our waterways on a timeline that truly matters.”
TFT presented this model at the Family Farm Alliance conference on October 30 in Reno, Nevada.
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This project has been funded wholly or in part by the United States Environmental Protection Agency under Assistance Agreement No. 44-02J50201 to The Freshwater Trust . The contents of this document do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Environmental Protection Agency, nor does the Environmental Protection Agency endorse trade names or recommend the use of commercial products mentioned in this document.
