Scaling Up “Climate Smart” Irrigation Projects in Oregon

The Freshwater Trust (TFT) has expanded its innovative agreement with the Oregon Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a division of the USDA, to recruit, design, and develop a large queue of priority projects identified by precision analytics into shovel-ready “climate smart” irrigation upgrade projects.

In 2023, TFT provided Oregon NRCS staff with quantifiable assessments of potential irrigation upgrade actions in three eastern Oregon watersheds that could effectively reduce nutrient and sediment runoff to protect water quality, while also providing farmers greater resilience to mitigate the impacts of climate change. To do this work, TFT used its BasinScout® toolkit, a modeling system that identifies “clusters” of feasible irrigation upgrade practices.

This insight provides NRCS staff and regional partners with the detailed information they need to prioritize and pursue projects that create the greatest environmental benefits for the lowest cost.

“With this insight in place, the next logical step is to bolster NRCS and partner capacity to get these priority projects funded and implemented,” said Damon Brosnan, Assistant State Conservationist for Field Operations, Oregon NRCS.

“This is a particularly important need right now due to the historic influx of federal funding available for critical conservation on agricultural lands to aid producers and improve resources.”

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 added $19 billion in new Farm Bill funds for “climate smart” projects that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions such as carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), or nitrous oxide (N2O). These funds must be spent by 2031.

State NRCS offices are working hard to deliver these new funds on top of their existing programs, but this unprecedented funding infusion has created capacity challenges.

With its unique blend of analytics and on-the-ground program design and delivery, TFT has signed a Technical Assistance (TA) Agreement with Oregon NRCS to support the agency in recruiting, designing, and moving many of the potential priority projects through NRCS’ rigorous screening, design and compliance processes. TFT will be working closely with regional irrigation suppliers, certified technical service providers (TSPs), and certified archaeologists to develop bundles of projects for more rapid and efficient NRCS review.

In addition to this TA Agreement, Oregon NRCS has expanded its original analytics agreement with TFT to add GHG emission reductions to BasinScout, focusing on investments in agricultural areas of central and eastern Oregon.

According to USDA survey data, about half (49%) of agriculture’s GHG emissions in 2018 were methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from cropland soils and grazing lands. MMT CO2 eq is million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent. (Adapted from US Agriculture and Forestry Greenhouse Gas Inventory 1990-2018: Technical Bulletin 1957 (2022).)

“Quantifying both GHG reduction benefits and water quality benefits help increase the quantity of funds available for needed irrigation improvement projects,” said David Primozich, Vice President of Water at The Freshwater Trust. “It expands the options for NRCS and its partners to make use of this major federal funding opportunity.”

Adding GHG benefits to the assessment tool helps bolster the connection between irrigation practices and NRCS’ Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Mitigation Activities List (CSAF List), which includes the practices eligible for priority IRA funding. In 2022-2023, based on TFT’s technical assessment (published here), TFT worked closely with NRCS Headquarters and a coalition of agricultural and conservation partners to advocate for inclusion of irrigation practices on the CSAF List, which NRCS did for FY 2024.

Converting flood or furrow irrigation systems to more efficient sprinkler or drip irrigation systems reduces the emission of these gases from wet soils and improves uptake of nitrogen by plants.

Next Steps for Strategic Conservation in the Snake River Watershed

TFT is well-positioned to provide these services to Oregon NRCS in eastern Oregon because of its central role launching and driving a broader Snake River coordinated funding initiative. This initiative, which is anchored by a $5.6 million grant from the US Environmental Protection Agency, aims to secure and deliver approximately $200 million to priority irrigation projects in the Snake to help solve a major regional methylmercury challenge. In pursuit of this goal, TFT continues to work with regional partners to strategically improve the health of the Snake River watershed. Recently:

• TFT submitted proposals totaling $58 million to the NRCS Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to fund conversion to precision irrigation systems in the Owyhee (OR), Payette (ID), Weiser (ID), and Lower Boise (ID) subbasins. We’ll learn if these proposals are funded in fall 2024.
• TFT continues its work supporting Idaho Power Company in developing its mercury management plan for the Snake River that will drive significant new leveraged funding to irrigation upgrades that reduce or eliminate phosphorus runoff from agricultural fields.

“We are excited to see multiple programs come together in the Snake River watershed,” said Brett Dumas, Director of Environmental Affairs at Idaho Power Company.

“Solving such a significant natural resource concern at this scale requires exactly this kind of coordinated data-driven funding and implementation effort.”

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