California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Temecula-based Rancho California Water District (RCWD) has been awarded a $1,000,000 grant from the Bureau of Reclamation’s Agricultural Water Conservation and Efficiency Grants for the implementation of an Agricultural Crop Conversion Program. The program’s goal is to help sustain local agriculture by providing financial incentives to the water district’s agricultural customers for converting high water use crops to lower water varieties.
The district collaborated with local farm managers to develop the framework for the program, and worked to estimate the water savings that would result from its implementation. The district anticipates the types of crop conversions most likely to result from the program to be: avocado to wine grape conversions, citrus to wine grape conversions, and avocado to citrus conversions.
Conversions from avocados to other fruits may be an especially timely move. According to a Los Angeles Times’ July 1 article the triple-digit heat decimated much of the Temecula-area avocado harvest just before the annual surge in sales for the Fourth of July holiday. Temperatures last week between 100 and 117 degrees with 30-mph winds burned many avocado trees rendering the fruit unusable. High heat and heavy winds can be devastating for avocado trees planted in the regions’ sandy soil; fierce winds can wick away moisture faster than the trees can absorb it. Avocado trees in the area were showing shriveled leaves, badly burned branches and some dropped fruit.
The district is also in the process of applying for $2,000,000 in additional grant funding through the Department of Water Resources to expand the crop conversion program. If successful in acquiring this additional funding, 3,960 acre feet of water could be saved over a ten-year period equaling enough water to serve 7,920 households.
The RCWD was formed in 1965 and supplies an area of approximately 150 square miles. It serves the cities of Temecula, Rancho California and parts of Murrieta, all of which are high-growth communities.
