In the coming month, the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District (CCRCD) is set to launch our Irrigation and Water Conservation Services program. Over the past decade, numerous Resource Conservation Districts throughout the state have been offering irrigation and water conservation advisory services. For many small farmers, these services have provided numerous benefits, such as training on repairs and irrigation scheduling, to cost saving benefits, such as reduced water and energy costs. Now, we are proud to announce that these services will be available to our farmers and growers in Contra Costa County.

Contra Costa County agriculture is as diverse as the people that live here. There are urban farms of the western side of the county (nurseries, microgreens, schoolyard farms, and small urban farms) as well as the farms of the eastern county (ranches, orchards, vineyards, berry growers, and produce farms). This mix of urban and rural agriculture makes Contra Costa County agriculture very unique. What this means in terms of irrigation in our county is that our growers and producers make use of a wide variety of irrigation systems to great effect. For example, Contra Costa County has shown its resilience through our drought periods through use of drip irrigation on most farms.

Our irrigation services hope to build off the success of Contra Costa County’s agriculture by helping our growers and producers finetune their irrigation systems.

Highlights of our services will include:

●     Pump efficiency testing

●     Irrigation programing/scheduling assistance

●     Irrigation distribution uniformity & efficiency testing

●     Information on new irrigation technologies

●     One on one assistance on water conservation and management

●     Answers to your irrigation FAQs

Our goals for this program include collaboration and outreach between like-groups of growers and producers and delivery of workshops and training on irrigation operations, water conservation, and irrigation efficiency.

Thank you to the California Department of Food and Agriculture for funding this program.