California Statewide Animal Water Quality Initiative
The California NRCS
EQIP Water
Quality Initiative for dairy and animal feeding operations is offered to provide
accelerated financial and technical assistance to producers who are facing
increasing water quality related regulatory requirements on animal feeding
operations, dairies and other similar operations. Various Federal and State
agencies in California have announced or will announce in the near future,
permit requirements which establish waste discharge standards. The NRCS State
Conservationist in California has determined that a separate statewide funding
pool will be established from California’s general Environmental Quality
Incentives Program (EQIP) allocation in Fiscal Year 2008 to provide support to
producers in meeting these new requirements as well as other natural resource
protection. Farmers and ranchers in nearly all counties in California are
eligible for the CA NRCS Statewide Water Quality Initiative.
Program Description
The EQIP Water Quality Initiative provides financial and technical assistance
to producers to voluntarily meet regulatory agency requirements for waste
discharge and Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) standards related to surface
runoff or ground water quality. Practices that promote water conservation and
reduce or manage non-point source pollutants (nutrients) may be utilized on
these kinds of operations and associated cropland to address priority resource
concerns and to help comply with other agency rules and regulations.
Applications will be screened and ranked statewide in a single pool using
factors that address the above cited objectives and provide the most
environmental benefit towards protecting or improving surface and ground water
resources.
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