California Department of Food and Agriculture

James (Jim) Miller received a State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) grant award of $97,614 for improvements at an orange and avocado orchard in Cayucos, California. The farm was dealing with a high energy cost and wanted to utilize irrigation tools to support more precise and efficient irrigation scheduling. Using the SWEEP funds, Jim and his son Daryn oversaw the installation of two solar energy arrays (14.72 kW and 16 kW); one for each of the on-farm wells. In addition, the recipients installed new high efficiency electric pumps with screen filters, a flow meter at each well, soil moisture sensors, and a weather station. With the addition of these tools, the farm made improvements to both the energy efficiency of their irrigation system and can make more informed irrigation decisions by relying on the sensors.

The Association of California Community and Energy Services partner agencies replaced 1,090 washing machines and 855 dishwashers with water- and energy-efficient machines . These energy and water savings will continuously provide cost savings across various communities in Kern, Madera, Contra Costa, Kings, San Francisco, and Merced counties and other low-income homes in San Mateo, Shasta, and Tehama counties.

More than 1,900 households in the San Gabriel Valley are saving money, water and energy through a new rebate program supported by Cap-and-Trade dollars.

“For the community; by the community” is the motto of the South-East Madera County United (SEMCU), a non-profit mutual benefit organization in the heart of the San Joaquin Valley. In May 2015, with a $218,594 grant from the DWR, members set out to provide water efficiency devices for approximately 75 percent of homes and businesses within SEMCU’s boundary, an area encompassing five disadvantaged community census tracts.

With support from CDFA’s State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP), the Desert Fresh project lowered irrigation water use by nearly 15 percent while producing the same yield using precision agriculture technology. The system also uses soil moisture sensing technology to identify when the crop needs water and know exactly how much to apply—taking the guesswork out of irrigation.

The investment of $150,000 in Cap-and-Trade proceeds into climate-smart technology on Navdip Badhesha’s 40-acres of grapes made a big difference in water use and carbon emissions for this farmer – and for California.

Westside Elementary School in the Coachella Valley relied solely on well water for its drinking water. The well had an unfortunate history of both contamination and the inability to provide adequate water supplies to prevent fires. Thanks in part to a nearly $370,000 from California Climate Investments through the Safe and Affordable Drinking Water Fund, these problems have been solved.