Water Management on the Farm: USDA Tools and Resources

Last updated 5 months ago. Our resources are updated regularly but please keep in mind that links, programs, policies, and contact information do change.

Water is the lifeblood of American agriculture, essential for growing crops and raising livestock. Recognizing this critical role, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) places a high priority on efficient water management and conservation, viewing it as a primary agricultural policy objective.

U.S. agriculture is a significant user of water resources; irrigation alone accounted for 42 percent of the nation’s total freshwater withdrawals in 2015. Furthermore, irrigated agriculture is incredibly productive, generating over half of the total value of U.S. crop sales from less than 20 percent of the harvested cropland in 2017.

To support farmers and ranchers in managing this vital resource effectively and sustainably, the USDA offers a wide array of programs, technical expertise, tools, and financial assistance. This guide provides an overview of these resources, helping producers navigate the support available to enhance water management on their operations.

Why Water Management Matters on Your Farm

Effective water management is fundamental to the economic viability and environmental health of a farm operation. Implementing efficient systems and practices offers tangible benefits, while neglecting water management can lead to significant risks.

Boosting Farm Profitability and Productivity

Efficient irrigation systems and water management practices are key to maintaining farm profitability, particularly when facing limited or increasingly expensive water supplies. By optimizing water use, producers can often reduce expenditures on energy for pumping, as well as costs associated with chemicals and labor.

For instance, adopting a scientifically developed nutrient management plan, often integrated with water management strategies, can lead to direct cost savings; the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) estimates average savings of $30 per acre for farmers implementing such plans on land currently receiving excess nutrients.

Beyond cost savings, improved water management can enhance revenues through higher crop yields and better crop quality.

Conserving Vital Water Resources

With agriculture being a major user of both surface and groundwater, conserving limited water supplies through improved management is considered essential for meeting the future water needs of agriculture and other sectors.

Effective management helps farms cope with both extremes: having too much water, which can lead to issues like ponding, flooding, and drainage problems that hinder crop growth, and having insufficient water, which results in poor yields and increased runoff.

Protecting Environmental Quality

Sound water management directly benefits the environment by reducing the negative impacts of agricultural production on offsite water quantity and quality.

Poor water quality can render water unsuitable for irrigation or livestock.

Common agricultural contributors to poor water quality include soil erosion, runoff carrying manure or excess fertilizers (particularly nitrogen and phosphorus), and other pollutants.

These can contaminate streams, rivers, lakes, and groundwater, harming drinking water supplies, aquatic ecosystems, and the recreational value of water bodies.

Efficient water management helps minimize these issues by controlling runoff and leaching.

Furthermore, many water conservation practices, such as using cover crops or reducing tillage, simultaneously improve soil health, which enhances the soil’s ability to absorb and retain water, further reducing runoff and erosion.

The connections between water management and other aspects of farm operation are profound. It’s not merely about the volume of water applied but is intricately linked to soil health, nutrient management, pest control strategies, and energy consumption. Addressing water issues often necessitates a holistic, systems-based approach.

For example, improving irrigation efficiency might reduce water use but could also decrease nutrient leaching, saving fertilizer costs and protecting water quality downstream. Conversely, poor water management can exacerbate soil erosion, carrying valuable topsoil and nutrients off the field.

The economic case for water management extends beyond simply increasing yields. While enhanced crop production is a significant benefit, the reduction in input costs – less water pumped, less energy consumed, potentially less fertilizer and fewer chemical applications needed – contributes substantially to the farm’s bottom line.

Additionally, proactive water management builds resilience against risks like drought and helps farmers avoid potential costs associated with environmental compliance.

This comprehensive economic picture—cost savings, yield enhancement, and risk reduction—provides a powerful incentive for adopting improved water management practices.

Your USDA Partners in Water Management

Navigating the landscape of government resources can seem daunting, but several key USDA agencies work together to provide a comprehensive support system for farm water management. Understanding their distinct roles can help producers connect with the right expertise and programs.

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

As the USDA’s primary agency for conservation on private lands, NRCS offers voluntary, science-based technical assistance and financial support directly to farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners. NRCS conservationists work one-on-one with producers to develop conservation plans and help implement practices addressing natural resource concerns, including soil health, water quality, and water quantity.

They are the main point of contact for accessing programs like EQIP and CSP and for obtaining tailored technical guidance.

• Website: NRCS Homepage
• Water Resources Page: NRCS Water Resources

Farm Service Agency (FSA)

FSA administers many crucial USDA programs, including farm commodity programs, disaster relief, farm loans, and certain conservation programs, particularly those involving land retirement or specific environmental goals like the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and its enhancement, CREP.

FSA also manages the Water-Saving Commodities (WSC) Program aimed at drought resilience.

Importantly, FSA maintains farm records and ensures producers meet eligibility requirements, such as conservation compliance (related to highly erodible land and wetlands), which are often prerequisites for participating in NRCS programs.

• Website: FSA Homepage
• Water Resources Compliance Page: FSA Water Resources

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

ARS is the USDA’s chief scientific in-house research agency.

It conducts extensive research on agricultural challenges, including water availability, water quality, irrigation technologies, crop water use, and watershed management.

ARS research provides the scientific foundation for many of the conservation practices and technical standards promoted by NRCS and informs the development of water management tools.

• Website: ARS Homepage
• National Program 211 (Water Availability & Watershed Management): ARS Water Programs
• Water Management Research Unit (Parlier, CA): ARS Water Management Research
• Water Management & Systems Research Unit (Fort Collins, CO): ARS Water Management Systems

Economic Research Service (ERS)

While farmers may not interact directly with ERS, this agency provides vital economic analysis and data related to agriculture, including irrigation trends, water use economics, and the impact of conservation programs. This research helps shape USDA policy and target programs effectively, such as identifying areas for the WSC program.

• Website: ERS Homepage
• Irrigation & Water Use Topic Page: ERS Irrigation and Water Use

These agencies form a functional ecosystem supporting farm water management. ARS generates the science and develops innovative tools. NRCS translates this science into practical, field-level technical guidance (like the Field Office Technical Guide) and provides hands-on assistance and funding for implementation. FSA administers large-scale financial programs, often focused on specific goals like buffer establishment or drought relief, and manages the crucial farm records and compliance aspects needed for participation in many USDA programs.

ERS provides the economic context and data analysis that helps guide these efforts.

For most producers seeking assistance, the local USDA Service Center, which typically houses both NRCS and FSA staff, serves as the primary point of contact.

Understanding how these agencies collaborate helps farmers and ranchers more effectively access the full range of available support.

Financial Assistance: Funding Your Water Conservation Efforts

Implementing water conservation practices and upgrading systems often requires significant investment. USDA offers several financial assistance programs through NRCS and FSA designed to share the cost of these improvements, making conservation more accessible and affordable for producers. These are voluntary, incentive-based programs.

Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)

Agency: NRCS

Purpose: EQIP is NRCS’s primary program for providing financial and technical assistance to producers on working agricultural lands (cropland, rangeland, pasture, forestland). It helps address a wide range of natural resource concerns, including significant focus on water.

Water Focus: EQIP funds practices aimed at improving water quality (e.g., reducing nutrient and sediment runoff), conserving ground and surface water, increasing irrigation efficiency, improving soil health for better water infiltration, and mitigating drought impacts.

Eligibility: Available to agricultural producers, non-industrial private forestland owners, and Indian Tribes who own or control eligible land. Applicants must have farm records established with FSA, meet Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limitations, and comply with Highly Erodible Land (HEL) and wetland conservation provisions.

Special provisions, including higher cost-share rates (up to 90% versus the standard up to 75%) and the option for advance payments, are available for Historically Underserved (HU) producers (defined as beginning, limited resource, socially disadvantaged, and veteran farmers and ranchers).

For irrigation-related practices, the land generally must have been irrigated two out of the last five years.

Practices Funded: EQIP supports about 200 unique conservation practices. Water-related examples include upgrading irrigation systems (e.g., converting to microirrigation or drip, installing efficient pipelines and pumping plants), implementing irrigation water management techniques, nutrient management planning and application, planting cover crops, establishing filter strips and riparian buffers, installing drainage water management systems, constructing waste storage facilities for manure management, building water and sediment control basins, and sometimes well-related practices.

EQIP also has specific initiatives targeting areas like organic production, high tunnels (which can improve water efficiency), and water conservation through the WaterSMART Initiative.

Contract Details: EQIP contracts typically range from one to ten years. Assistance is based on a conservation plan developed with NRCS.

Applications are accepted year-round but are ranked competitively during specific periods based on the environmental benefits offered, alignment with national, state, and local priorities, and cost-effectiveness.

URL: EQIP Program Page

Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)

Agency: NRCS

Purpose: CSP is designed for producers already implementing conservation practices. It rewards existing stewardship and provides payments for adopting additional conservation activities (“enhancements”) and maintaining the existing ones across the entire agricultural operation.

Water Focus: Supports adopting advanced water management activities that go beyond basic standards, such as enhancements for irrigation scheduling, multi-species cover crops for soil moisture, improved nutrient application timing/placement, stream habitat improvements linked to water quality, and advanced grazing systems that benefit water resources.

Eligibility: Applicants must be producers managing eligible land (private ag lands, tribal ag lands, nonindustrial private forest land). Crucially, applicants must already meet the NRCS “stewardship threshold” for at least two priority resource concerns on every land use in their operation and agree to meet or exceed the threshold for at least one additional resource concern by the contract’s end. The entire operation must be enrolled.

Standard AGI, HEL/Wetland compliance, and control-of-land requirements apply.

Set-asides (5% of acres each) exist for beginning farmers/ranchers and socially disadvantaged producers, with preference for veterans within those groups.

Practices Funded: Focus is on adopting “enhancements” (around 140 available) which represent a higher level of conservation management. CSP also offers “bundles,” which are suites of enhancements with potentially higher payment rates.

Supplemental payments are available for activities like resource-conserving crop rotations and advanced grazing management.

Contract Details: Contracts are for five years, with an option to renew for another five years if terms are met and the renewal application ranks competitively. Annual payments are based on both the existing stewardship level and the new activities undertaken.

A minimum annual payment may apply.

Applications are accepted continuously but ranked periodically.

URL: CSP Program Page

Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP)

Agency: NRCS

Purpose: RCPP fosters partnerships between NRCS and eligible entities (e.g., producer groups, state/local governments, water districts, NGOs) to deliver conservation solutions on a regional or watershed scale, leveraging combined resources.

Water Focus: Many RCPP projects specifically target water quality improvement, water quantity conservation (including drought resilience), source water protection, or watershed restoration, based on the priorities identified by the partners in their project proposals. RCPP uses the authorities of underlying NRCS programs like EQIP, CSP, and the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP).

Eligibility: Lead Partners (eligible organizations) submit project proposals to NRCS. Producers located within an approved project area can then participate, either by applying directly to NRCS for practices aligned with the project or sometimes through the partner organization (especially under Alternative Funding Arrangements – AFAs).

Standard producer eligibility requirements (AGI, HEL/Wetland compliance, control of land) generally apply.

Practices Funded: The specific conservation activities depend on the goals of the approved project and utilize practices available through the underlying NRCS programs (EQIP, CSP, ACEP, etc.). This could include irrigation efficiency upgrades, buffer establishment, wetland restoration, nutrient management, forest management, conservation easements, and potentially even watershed-scale infrastructure under certain authorities.

Contract Details: Partnership agreements between NRCS and the lead partner last up to five years. Producer contracts follow the rules of the underlying program (e.g., EQIP contract terms) but are part of the specific RCPP project.

Funding is competitively awarded to partner proposals, allocated between projects in designated Critical Conservation Areas (CCAs) and state/multistate projects.

Significant partner contributions (financial or in-kind) are expected and prioritized.

URL: RCPP Program Page

Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) & Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP)

Agency: FSA

Purpose: CRP is a land retirement program. FSA provides annual rental payments and cost-share assistance to producers who voluntarily remove environmentally sensitive land (especially highly erodible land) from agricultural production and establish long-term, resource-conserving vegetative cover (like grasses or trees).

CREP is a specialized version of CRP, involving a partnership between FSA and state, tribal, or non-governmental entities.

CREP targets specific, high-priority state or regional conservation concerns (frequently water quality) within designated geographic areas, leveraging federal CRP funds with additional state or private partner contributions and incentives.

Water Focus: Both programs significantly benefit water quality by reducing soil erosion and filtering agricultural runoff through practices like filter strips, riparian buffers, grass waterways, and wetland restoration.

The CLEAR (Clean Lakes, Estuaries, and Rivers) initiative within CRP/CREP specifically funds practices like saturated buffers and denitrifying bioreactors designed to remove nutrients from tile drainage water.

Eligibility: Landowners or operators of eligible land can apply. Eligible land generally includes cropland meeting certain erodibility or environmental sensitivity criteria (e.g., near water bodies) or marginal pastureland suitable for buffers.

Land typically must have a cropping history (e.g., planted 4 of the last 6 years).

Applicants must generally have owned or operated the land for at least 12 months prior to enrollment.

CREP eligibility is further restricted to specific project areas and practices defined by the state/partner agreement.

Practices Funded: Establishing permanent vegetative cover is key. This includes planting native grasses, hardwood trees, wildlife habitat mixes, pollinator habitat, filter strips along water bodies, riparian buffers (forested or grassy), grass waterways, and restoring wetlands.

CREP often focuses on buffer and wetland practices.

Contract Details: CRP and CREP contracts typically last 10 to 15 years. Participants receive annual rental payments based on soil productivity and local rates, plus cost-share assistance (up to 50% federal) for establishing the conservation cover.

CREP agreements often include additional state or partner-funded incentive payments (signing bonuses, higher rental rates, or increased cost-share).

Enrollment for General CRP occurs during announced signup periods and is competitive, based on an Environmental Benefits Index (EBI) ranking. Continuous CRP signup (including most buffer practices and CREP) allows eligible land to be enrolled at any time non-competitively.

URLs:

• CRP Program Page
• CREP Program Page

Other Relevant Financial Assistance Programs:

• Water-Saving Commodities (WSC) Program (FSA): A non-competitive grant program providing funds (up to $15M per grant) to pre-selected irrigation districts, water companies, Tribes, and acequias in drought-prone areas. The grants support activities—both at the district level (e.g., canal lining, automation) and on-farm (e.g., irrigation upgrades, shifting to less water-intensive crops)—that reduce water losses while allowing continued agricultural commodity production. URL: WSC Program Page
• Water Bank Program (WBP – NRCS): Available in Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota, this program offers 10-year rental agreements ($20-$50/acre/year depending on land type) for landowners to conserve wetlands and adjacent lands, primarily for migratory waterfowl habitat, but also providing water quality, flood control, and erosion reduction benefits. URL: WBP Program Page
• Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) Program (NRCS): Provides emergency funding and technical assistance to local communities (sponsors) to implement measures protecting life and property from flooding or erosion after a natural disaster impairs a watershed. URL: EWP Program Page
• Emergency Conservation Program (ECP – FSA): Offers cost-share assistance to farmers and ranchers to rehabilitate farmland damaged by natural disasters (e.g., floods, hurricanes) and provides funding for emergency water conservation measures during periods of severe drought. URL: ECP Program Page
• FSA Farm Loans: While not exclusively water-focused, various FSA loan programs (Farm Ownership, Farm Operating, Microloans, Emergency Loans) can provide capital that producers might use to finance water-related improvements, such as constructing or improving farm buildings (which could include water storage), implementing conservation practices required for a loan, or purchasing land with better water resources. URL: FSA Farm Loans Page

It’s important to distinguish between programs designed for “working lands,” where agricultural production continues alongside conservation efforts (like EQIP and CSP), and “land retirement” programs like CRP, where environmentally sensitive land is taken out of production to maximize conservation benefits.

Programs like RCPP and CREP demonstrate the power of partnerships in tackling regional issues, while emergency programs like EWP and ECP provide critical support during acute events like disasters and droughts.

Producers may find that combining or sequencing programs offers the best approach for their operation. For example, a farmer might use EQIP to fund the initial installation of an efficient irrigation system, later enroll the entire farm in CSP to implement advanced water management enhancements and receive payments for overall stewardship, while simultaneously maintaining critical buffer areas along a stream through a CRP contract. This potential for program layering underscores the value of developing a comprehensive conservation plan.

Success in accessing these funds often depends on local context. While these are national programs, funding allocations and ranking priorities can vary significantly by state or even watershed. State Technical Committees, composed of various stakeholders, help NRCS set local priorities. RCPP and CREP projects are inherently geographically targeted.

Therefore, early engagement with the local NRCS and FSA offices at the USDA Service Center is crucial to understand local priorities, navigate the application process, and increase the chances of receiving funding.

Table 1: Summary of Key USDA Financial Assistance Programs for Water Management

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