Background
Oregon’s Agricultural Water Quality Program works statewide with Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Watershed Councils, farmer, ranchers, rural landowners, local partners, and state agencies to implement Oregon’s Agricultural Water Quality Program. The goals of Oregon’s Agricultural Water Quality Program are to prevent and control water pollution from agricultural activities and soil erosion, and to achieve applicable water quality standards.
Agricultural Water Quality (AgWQ) Support Grant
ODA's Agricultural Water Quality Program was directed, through legislature, to establish a competitively awarded grant program. These grants are intended to provide capacity to support voluntary agricultural water quality work in small watersheds and to meet the goals of the Agricultural Water Quality Management Area Plans and the SIA initiative.
Eligible proposal types:
ODA will award grant funds for proposals that include any or all of these proposal types:
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A. Watershed Assessments. Assess conditions on agricultural lands that contribute to water quality, such as presence/absence of riparian vegetation or groundcover, irrigation methods, fencing, livestock watering, manure management, etc. Eligible assessments track progress toward AgWQ Program goals or inform adaptive-management decisions, as outlined in your local Area Plan. Completed assessments should also include a prioritization of next steps following the results of the assessment.
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B. Monitoring. Create plans for and conduct monitoring specifically to address needs identified in applicable Area Plans or TMDLs. Eligible projects may evaluate current conditions, mid-management conditions, or long-term conditions. Proposals may fund AgWQ monitoring equipment and/or testing results.
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Please note: A monitoring plan, utilizing the ODA Monitoring Plan template, or an accepted alternative as determined by the ODA Monitoring Specialist, must be completed and approved prior to the beginning of monitoring efforts. Discuss options with your ODA RWQS. Unless otherwise approved by the ODA Monitoring Specialist, all water quality data need to have an approved SAP and QAPP and are expected to meet DEQ’s “A” level quality criteria and must be submitted to DEQ AQMS database within one year of collection. Monitoring plans should briefly describe the following: partner(s) and SWCD role(s), parameters to monitor, frequency, and geographic scope.
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C.
Outreach and Engagement: Engage farmers, ranchers, rural landowners, and/or partners in workshops, tours, site visits, etc. related to reducing non-point source pollution from agricultural lands. Develop printed materials designed to inform and educate farmers, ranchers, rural landowners, and/or partners on non-point source pollution from agricultural lands.
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D. Technical Assistance. Provide technical assistance to farmers, ranchers, and rural landowners in order to reduce non-point source pollution from agricultural activities and/or improve water quality.
Grant cycle calendar
Grant application documents
Forms