1. Jim Dobrowolski, National Program Leader
USDA’s NIFA: Engaging knowledge and technology, incentives and policies to promote appropriate decision making in the management of water and watersheds
Jim Dobrowolski,
National Program Leader

2. NIFA’s Water for Agriculture science, education and extension/outreach (REE) portfolio engages knowledge and technology, incentives, and policies to promote appropriate decision making at a wide range of scales.
Water for Agriculture addresses critical water issues such as drought, excess soil moisture, flooding, availability (quality + quantity) in an agricultural context.

3. How did we get to where we are today?
FY01 Competitive National Integrated Water Quality Program
National facilitation grants
Watershed-level grants
Regional funding
Funded at $12 million

4. FY05 Agriculture Water Security Initiative
Six broad areas were identified for USDA research, education, and extension programs to address agricultural water security: 1) water marketing, economics, and distribution; 2) water reuse; 3) general water conservation; 4) irrigation efficiency; 5) drought risk assessment; and 6) biotechnology
Worked through the National Integrated Water Quality Program

5. FY06 Competitive CEAP FY08 Competitive CEAP FY09 CEAP Synthesis
13 Cropland watersheds
FY08 Competitive CEAP
4 Grazingland watersheds
FY09 CEAP Synthesis

6. What Have We Learned?
Conservation practices work.
Gains have been made in some cases, but critical conservation concerns still exist.
Comprehensive planning needed.
Systems vs single practices.
Targeting critical areas improves effectiveness.

7. Water Reuse in Agriculture
2006: Opportunities and Challenges—Workshop In Santa Rosa;
2008: Ensuring Food Safety—Workshop in Monterey

8. FY14: Two Request for Applications (RFAs)
Water for Agriculture Challenge CAPS
Regional Scale Issues
Sustaining water quantity, quality, and availability for agricultural use while maintaining environmental quality through 2050
National Integrated Water Quality Program
Farm and Watershed Scale (drought triggers, value of water)
Synthesis of 10+ years of past work

9. Water for Agriculture, Defined
Focuses on solutions
Better quality water;
Understanding human behavior on decision making for agricultural water use;
In agricultural, rural and urbanizing areas across the United States;
Funds water REE that links food, water, climate, energy, health and environmental issues.

10. Launch of Water for Ag
"Cutting edge research holds the key to tackling the complex challenges posed by prolonged drought and ensuring the future food security of our nation," said Secretary Vilsack. "These grants will help arm America's farmers and ranchers with the tools and strategies they need to adapt and succeed, and build on ongoing, cross-governmental efforts to provide relief to those impacted by severe drought."

11. NIFA’s Response to the Water for Agriculture Challenge
Invest in the development of management practices, technologies, and tools
for farmers, ranchers, forest owners and managers, public decision-makers, public and private managers and citizens to improve water resource quantity and quality.
NIFA’s approach links social, economic, and behavioral sciences with traditional biophysical sciences and engineering
to address regional scale issues with shared hydrological processes, and meteorological and basin characteristics.

12. International Collaboration
Integrated work with Israel
Newly minted MOU/Link with NIWQP, Water for AG
Work with Mexico on trans-boundary issues: Rio Grande

13. Assessing Water Use

14. Other Programs SBIR about $2 M AFRI Foundational Other Challenge Areas
Food Safety, Ag systems, Nanotechnology, Bioenergy, Natural resources and Environment $18 M
Other Challenge Areas
Water footprinting

15. Proposed Priorities for FY 2015
Water Availability for Diverse Agricultural Uses: The Right Water for the Right Place and Time.
Goal is to conserve water through the development of cost-effective, adoptable and sustainable practices and technologies for agricultural producers and processors;
One or two, $10 M Integrated CAP projects over 4 years at the watershed or regional scale.

16. Proposed Priorities for FY 2015
Understanding Decisions and Behaviors Connected with Agriculture and Post-harvest Processing Industry Water Use.
Goal is to improve water availability through the understanding of human behavior, the potential for technology adoption and improved decision-making, and give decision makers greater capacity to manage water for agriculture
$500 K Standard Research projects at the watershed or regional scale.

17. Proposed Priorities for FY 2015
Understanding the Human Health Impacts to Exposure from Nontraditional Water Used in Agriculture.
Goal is to fund a portfolio of research that improves our understanding of the human exposure pathways to nontraditional agricultural water and potential human health risks;
NIFA and EPA (U.S. EPA National Center for Environmental Research) collaboration;
$500 K Standard Integrated projects at the farm or watershed scale.

18. FY 2015 Proposed Priorities Address Needs Identified in the USDA Strategic Plan
Goal 2: Ensure Our National Forests And Private Working Lands Are Conserved, Restored, And Made More Resilient To Climate Change, While Enhancing Our Water Resources

19. FY 2015 Proposed Priorities Address Needs Identified in the REE Action Plan
Goal 3 (Sustainable Use of Natural Resources) and is supportive of subgoal 3A (Water Availability: Quality and Quantity).

20. Proposed Priorities Address Needs Identified in the PCAST Report on the U.S. Research Enterprise
“Among the most crucial problems faced by humans is the availability of ample food and clean water.”
“…while the safety of the U.S. water supply has long been a central concern of public health, many challenges remain in providing a sufficient quantity of high-quality water to much of the Nation and the world.”

21. Proposed Priorities Address Needs Identified in Other Key Documents
A Science Roadmap for Food and Agriculture/ESCOP/ECOP
Portfolio Planning Document/IBCE-DoES
Water and Agriculture In a Changing Climate Horticultural Science (
Advancing water resource management in agricultural, rural, and urbanizing watersheds: Why land-grant universities matter SWCS (
AFRI Water Challenge Stakeholder Listening Sessions

22. What CAPs Did We Fund in 2014?
Managing water for increased resiliency of drained agricultural landscape—Purdue
Developing and promoting water-, nutrient-, and climate-smart technologies to help agricultural systems adapt to climate and societal changes—Michigan State
Sustainable water resources for irrigated agriculture in a desert river basin facing climate change and competing demands: From characterization to solutions--UTEP

23. What CAPs Did We Fund in 2014?
ThinkWater II: Growing knowledge to solve water problems—U. Wisconsin
Enhancing climate resiliency and agriculture on American Indian lands of the Great Basin Region—U. Nevada
Increasing the resilience of agricultural production in the Tennessee and Cumberland river basins through more efficient water resource use—U. Tennessee

24. Thanks!
I look forward to your stakeholder input!! Jim Dobrowolski