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Background
The Irrigation Efficiencies Grants Program (IEGP) has helped save water for people, farms, and fish since 2002. Created by the Legislature in 2001, the program was designed to conserve irrigation water through efficiency upgrades while protecting instream flows for fish.
IEGP made funding available to conservation districts to support irrigation efficiency improvements to:
- Conveyance systems (such as ditches), and
- Application systems (including flood, furrow, and sprinkler irrigation).
Water savings generated through IEGP projects were transferred to the state’s Trust Water Rights Program for instream use only. These protections were intended to benefit salmonid species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.
Initially, the program focused on the 16 Salmon Critical Basins identified in the 1999 Washington Statewide Strategy to Recover Salmon. Over time, and through adaptive management and emerging water resource concerns, the program expanded to include other water-short basins through 2021.
Historically, IEGP was funded through a legislative appropriation to the Washington State Department of Ecology, with program delivery contracted to the Washington State Conservation Commission. In recent biennia, funding has been appropriated directly to the Commission. While earlier proviso language focused exclusively on instream flow enhancement, current program language allows the Commission to address a broader range of water resource needs.
Since its inception, participating conservation districts have included:
Asotin County, Cascadia (Chelan County), Clallam, Columbia, Kittitas County, North Yakima, Okanogan, Pomeroy (Garfield County), South Yakima, Underwood, Walla Walla County, and Whatcom.
How it works
IEGP grants fund conservation districts to provide direct, on-the-ground assistance to agricultural irrigators and water purveyors. This includes:
- Identifying and assessing water-savings opportunities
- Designing and implementing efficiency projects
- Managing project development and administration
Conservation districts also develop irrigation water management plans to support effective use of new systems and ensure long-term water savings. Monitoring is a core program component and helps verify project success and public benefit.
Eligibility
Conservation districts are the only eligible applicants for IEGP. Eligible projects must be located in areas where water availability is a high-priority natural resource concern and must demonstrate measurable water savings that support one or more of the following outcomes:
- Instream flow protection or enhancement
- Water quality protection or improvement
- Mitigation of drought vulnerability
- Improved productivity or profitability on agricultural lands at risk of conversion
- Retiming of flows or water supply to address ecological or water management needs
For conveyance or water purveyor projects, water savings must be eligible for protection through the state’s Trust Water Rights Program. In some cases, the Program Manager may require a transfer of saved water to the Trust when state management is necessary to ensure the public benefit of the project.
Conservation districts are encouraged to work directly with local irrigators and water purveyors to identify eligible projects and confirm water savings and Trust Water Rights considerations early in project development.
For questions about project eligibility or program requirements, contact the IEGP Program Manager at the Washington State Conservation Commission.
