California is giving out $7.4 million in grants to 17 organizations under its Water Efficiency Technical Assistance program, which was funded in the 2021 state budget.

According to the state Department of Food and Agriculture, the groups will provide such services as:

This is the second round of the WETA program. The first awards were announced in 2022.

“Funding from the WETA program has enabled our team to leverage other funding sources and strengthen partnerships to improve our services and coverage,” said Sacha Lozano, the Agricultural Stewardship Program Manager with the Santa Cruz Resource Conservation District. “Participating growers benefit from timely and qualified technical assistance to improve their irrigation and nutrient management practices, and the program plays a key role helping us to achieve water conservation goals for our groundwater basin.”

The WETA grant program is designed to facilitate technical assistance to agricultural operations for on-farm water and energy use efficiency and nutrient management.

Producers interested in receiving training or services provided through WETA can review the list of awarded organizations with contact information at the WETA website: www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/technical/weta.html .

Source: California Department of Food and Agriculture