The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) is pleased to
announce a competitive grant application process for the State Water
Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP).
Donor Name: California Department of Food and Agriculture
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/26/2024
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 1 Year
Details:
CDFA’s Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (OEFI) administers the program. SWEEP’s objective is to provide financial incentives for California agricultural operations to invest in irrigation systems that save water and reduce GHG emissions.
Eligible system components include (among others) soil moisture monitoring, drip systems, switching to low pressure irrigation systems, pump retrofits, variable frequency drives and installation of renewable energy to reduce on-farm water use and energy.
Funding Information
- Through this solicitation SWEEP will award approximately $21 million to California agricultural operations investing in irrigation systems that reduce GHG emissions and save water.
- The maximum grant award is $200,000.
- The maximum grant duration is 18 months.
Eligibility and Exclusions
- California farmers, ranchers and California Native American Tribes are eligible to apply.
- An applicant must be at least 18 years old.
- An applicant cannot submit more than one application with a unique user account in the application portal. CDFA will cross reference tax identification number, mailing address and contact name to ensure that an application does not receive multiple awards.
- An agricultural operation or individual cannot receive a total cumulative SWEEP award amount of more than $600,000 since the CDFA initiated the SWEEP program in 2014. CDFA will determine the progress towards this cap using tax identification number.
- The proposed SWEEP project must be on a California agricultural operation.
- For the purposes of this program, CDFA defines an agricultural operation as row, vineyard, field and tree crops, commercial nurseries, nursery stock production, and greenhouse operations producing food crops or flowers as defined in Food and Agricultural Code section 77911.
- Medical and recreational cannabis crops are not eligible for funding.
- The farm location and the business mailing address must be in California.
- Universities, research institutions, and state governmental organizations are not eligible for funding.
- Applications may build upon a previously funded SWEEP project directly affecting the same Assessor’s Parcel Numbers (APNs), but recipients may not remove projects components funded by SWEEP within the previous ten years.
- Recipients may combine SWEEP funds with other incentives for the same project, such as funds from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP). However, Recipients may not use SWEEP funds to cover costs funded by other federal or state grant programs.
- Projects must reduce on-farm irrigation water use and reduce GHG emissions.
CDFA prohibits SWEEP recipients from using grant funds to:
- Expand existing agricultural operations (producers must not use funding to convert additional new acreage to farmland).
- Install new groundwater wells or increase well depth.
- Test new technology or perform research.
For more information, visit CDFA.