Water Conservation Field Services Program

Through an annual grant program, Reclamation funds projects in support of its Water Conservation Field Services Program throughout Southern California. This activity helps water user entities, local governments and others leverage their money and resources for water conservation projects through cost sharing. Six grants totaling more than $658,000 were awarded to various southern California water entities in 2008:

Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)

MWDOC was awarded $100,000 for its Industrial Process Expansion Program.  Through this project, MWDOC provides businesses with engineering surveys to identify water saving process improvements, and offers financial incentives to help implement the recommended changes.  The program targets four industry sectors:  Food Processing, Textile Manufacturing, Metal Plating, and Electronic Manufacturing.  Reclamation funding will assist MWDOC in continuing the program effort.  A potential water savings of 603 acre-feet per year was identified during the pilot phase.

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (Metropolitan)

Metropolitan was awarded $228,000 for its Innovative Conservation Program (ICP).  The ICP provides grant funding to explore the water and energy savings potential and practicality of new water conservation technologies.  The ICP projects will enhance existing data and/or generate new data on innovative water/energy conservation technologies. 

Rancho California Water District (RCWD)

RCWD was awarded $100,000 for a Demonstration Avocado Groves Controller Program.  The program is a demonstration study to improve irrigation efficiency in avocado groves.  RCWD is proposing the use of Weather-Based Smart Irrigation Controllers (Smart Controllers) in avocado groves.  Smart Controllers are capable of matching water application with changing crop water needs governed by evapotranspiration.  Smart Controllers may save approximately 20% of water use on avocado groves while maintaining crop integrity and fruit production. 

West Basin Municipal Water District (WBMWD)

WBMWD was awarded $100,000 for its Water Conservation Plan Project.  WBMWD will assist its water purveyors in developing their own local water conservation plans.  In 2006, WBMWD adopted a Water Conservation Master Plan that analyzed several different programs for their implementability over a five-year period.  These water conservation plans will act as tools to guide the water purveyor’s efforts in planning for their Best Management Practices.  The program will provide education for 1,000,000 people. 

San Diego County Water Authority (SDCWA)

SDCWA was awarded $100,000 for the Smart Landscape Retrofit Program.  The program will consist of researching, developing, and implementing a comprehensive and integrated water efficient landscape retrofit program targeting common interest developments (e.g. Homeowners Associations), which represent one of the highest potential water saving sectors for urban landscape conservation.  The project will integrate several ongoing elements from SDCWA’s landscape conservation program (landscape audits, educational programs, water budgets and device incentives) while incorporating technical specifications and findings developed regionally through other landscape programs previously funded by Reclamation.  The projected water savings for this program is 441 acre-feet over 10 years, with 10 acres of landscape being converted. 

City of Corona

The City of Corona was awarded $30,000 for the Residential Pilot Program – Direct Installation of Weather Based Irrigation Controllers (WBIC) Program.  The program proposes to coordinate and administer the installation of WBIC for residential customers that will reduce the need for imported water, save customers money, and reduce irrigation runoff.  The projected water savings for this program is 240 acre-feet over 3 years.

Water 2025

Water 2025 is a Department of the Interior initiative established to meet water supply challenges of the future. Two grants totaling $600,000 were awarded to southern California water entities in 2008:

West Basin Municipal Water District (WBMWD)

WBMWD was awarded $300,000 for the Installation of Evapotranspiration (ET) Controllers.  The project involves the installation of ET Controllers for urban landscapes that are one acre or greater in size.  Locations include schools, parks, business parks, facility landscapes, street medians, multi-family greenbelts within complexes and single-family residential sites. The projected water savings for this program is 198,925 gallons of water per year of 0.61 acre-feet per year of water per controller, or 340 acre-feet for 558 controllers.

Irvine Ranch Water District (IRWD)

IRWD was awarded $300,000 for the Strand Ranch Integrated Banking Project.  The project proposes to utilize and integrate IRWD’s Strand Ranch property located in Kern County to provide additional ground water recharge and recovery capacity in the Kern Fan region.  The project will allow storage of water during wet hydrologic periods for recovery, and use during dry periods to provide IRWD customers increased supply reliability through redundancy and diversification.  The project proposes to develop groundwater banking facilities on the Strand Ranch, which will help reduce the need for imported supplies to southern California during dry years.

CALFED Water Use Efficiency Program

CALFED Water Use Efficiency Grants fund agricultural and urban projects that focus on improving ecosystem health, water supply reliability, or water quality of the Bay-Delta, or help reduce Southern California's dependence on Bay-Delta water. Two grants totaling nearly $600,000 were awarded to southern California water entities in 2008:

Municipal Water District of Orange County (MWDOC)

MWDOC was awarded $299,919 for the Smart Timer Rebate Program.  The program will implement a Smart Timer Rebate Program to retrofit existing “dumb” irrigation controllers at residential and commercial sites in northern Orange County.  Included in this program will be a statistic-based water savings evaluation to determine actual water savings associated with the installation of Smart Timers. The projected water savings for this program is 121 acre-feet per year or 1,210 acre-feet over the 10-year life of the Smart Timers.

Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD)

EMWD was awarded $300,000 for the Public School Retrofit Program.  The goal of this program is to enable public schools to utilize rebate programs to the fullest capacity by providing necessary funding for the installation of retrofit devices and assistance in processing paperwork.  The proposed project would target schools and replace insufficient devices with water efficient indoor and outdoor devices.  The projected water savings for this program is 7.24 acre-feet per school, totaling 79.63 acre-feet per year.

Need More Information?

If you have any water resources questions, need technical assistance, or want to learn more about water conservation partnerships, contact Deb Whitney, Water Conservation Coordinator, at dwhitney@lc.usbr.gov or by phone at: (951) 695-5310.