Moving to address the national drought, the Agriculture Department today announced 21 grants totalling more than $10 million for studies. That is enough money to pay for over 1.5 billion gallons of water in Los Angeles.
“Water is our most precious resource, one that is essential for both human survival and well-being and for our ability to grow our crops and livestock,” said Sonny Ramaswamy, of USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Ramaswamy added, “By funding research, extension and education for citizens and the agriculture community, we are able to proactively create solutions to water-related issues like drought and its impact on food security.”
Western states have been hit hard by the drought, and California recently announced sharp curbs in usage.
In Los Angeles, it costs about $4.72 per 748 gallons. That means the $10 million announced by USDA could pay for about 1,583,068,783 gallons.
Below are a few samplings of the study projects announced Tuesday.
— South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD — $227,135 | Identify drought triggers, develop mitigation plans, investigate socio-economic factors associated with new technology adoption, and educate different age groups of students about drought issues.
— University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI — $900,000 | Expand on work from a current youth water education grant to develop new educational materials and technologies that address and embed the universal and elemental patterns of how youth think into existing water programming.
— University of Nevada, Reno, NV — $500,000 | Coordinated Agricultural Project (CAP) aims to increase research and participatory engagement with American Indians to assess the impacts of climate change on future water supplies, evaluate and prioritize actions to enhance the climate resiliency of tribal agriculture, and identify barriers and solutions to changing practices.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
