Fresno State Awarded Half a Million Dollar Grant to Support MAGSA Farmers with Irrigation Efficiencies
Fresno State Awarded Half a Million Dollar Grant to Support MAGSA Farmers with Irrigation Efficiencies
NEWS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
August 14, 2023
KERMAN, California — On July 25, 2023, the California State University, Fresno Foundation was awarded a $499,609 grant through the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Water Efficiency Technical Assistance (WETA) program to support farmers in the McMullin Area Groundwater Sustainability Agency (MAGSA).
The purpose of this grant is to support MAGSA farmers in implementing efficient irrigation and nutrition management practices, ultimately leading to water and energy savings.
The Center for Irrigation Technology (CIT) at California State University, Fresno, was the lead applicant and MAGSA was the partner applicant for the WETA grant. This partner project will involve the development of training materials, field days, educational workshops, and a variety of technical resources for MAGSA farmers on topics such as:
â—Ź Collecting and interpreting soil and water sensor data
â—Ź Regulated deficit irrigation strategies and tools
â—Ź Irrigation system maintenance
â—Ź Soil field capacity, permanent wilting point, and other information about soil-water-
plant-atmosphere relationships
This is a three-year grant program with implementation likely to begin in November 2023.
MAGSA’s goal is to help the region achieve groundwater sustainability by 2040. CIT’s expertise and partnership over the next three years will help MAGSA growers work toward this goal, increasing their efficiency by farming more with less water.
View a list of all CDFA WETA grant awardees here.