Texas Water Development Board approves $1,160,400 in agricultural grants and solicits agricultural water conservation grant applications

For immediate release. Contact: Media Relations at 512-463-5129

AUSTIN – (April 29, 2015) – The Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) today approved grant contracts in the amount of $1,160,400 from the Agricultural Water Conservation Fund. The recipients of the grants are Brush Country Groundwater Conservation District, Coastal Bend Groundwater Conservation District, Mesquite Groundwater Conservation District, and North Plains Groundwater Conservation District. The assistance will finance agricultural water conservation metering.

All four districts will use the grants to purchase and install meters on participating producers' wells and reimburse the producers for 50 percent of the costs for the meter installations. The grants will allow the districts to implement proven best management practices that will help producers manage their irrigation water use. In addition, the districts will be able to improve their efforts to monitor and manage groundwater production using the best available data and science.-

Additionally, the Board authorized a request to publish a request for grant applications to fund agricultural water conservation projects. The TWDB is now soliciting applications for projects from eligible entities.

Available funding includes $329,600 for cost sharing of metering equipment in groundwater conservation districts that have rules requiring metering of groundwater withdrawals and $50,000 for other entities to pursue similar water use monitoring projects.

Applications are due by noon on June 3, 2015, with an anticipated award date in August 2015. Current requests for applications and application instructions can be viewed online.

For more information, contact the Agricultural Water Conservation Team at 512-936-6090 or agconservation@twdb.texas.gov. Please visit the TWDB Agricultural Conservation webpage to learn more about our programs and to see examples of projects previously funded through the TWDB Agricultural Water Conservation Grants Program.

The TWDB is the state agency charged with collecting and disseminating water-related data, assisting with regional planning, and preparing the state water plan for the development of the state's water resources. The TWDB administers cost-effective financial assistance programs for the construction of water supply, wastewater treatment, flood control, and agricultural water conservation projects.