CACO Gives Irrigation Equipment to Farmers
By Kathy Parker

Nearly $70,000 in irrigation equipment has been provided to CCWCD contract holders though the federal grant program CACO.

The program, the Colorado Agricultural Conservation Outreach, awards individuals $15,000 towards the purchase of ultra-efficient irrigation equipment. With the funds, participants are upgrading a variety of irrigation equipment, letting operational needs drive conservation effort.

“There’s varied success within these sorts of programs, many fund a narrow type of water stewardship, but CACO is different, it relies on the creativity of the irrigator. They know how their operation works, and they know where water conservation translates into farm profit.” says Christopher Schall, CCWCD Conservation Research Specialist.

An irrigation nozzle eligible for the CACO program

Currently, irrigators are using the program to replace earthen ditches with gated pipe, others have installed advanced center pivot equipment like GPS monitoring panels to manage sprinkler movements. And for some participants, all they need is a sprinkler tune up. “Sometimes you just need to replace a pressure regulator on the pivot, and you increase irrigation efficiency by 15-30%,” says Bill Bailey of P Diamond Irrigation.

Funding for the program is received though congressional direction, and the NRCS is assisting with fund management. “We’re all excited that CCWCD received this money to help irrigators with our drought” says Christopher. “With the NRCS’s help, we’ve helped nine irrigators purchase equipment.”

The application process is simple: those interested fill out a form on the CCWCD webiste and, if approved, the equipment is installed. Afterwards, the site is scheduled for demonstrations, and after three years the equipment becomes property of the applicant.

“We’re trying new technologies to manage the little water we have,” says Alvin Dechant, CACO program participant. “Our operation is not like it used to be... now we use different crops, different irrigation methods, and we make it work.”

The goal of CACO is to get conservation equipment and management practices into the community, and test everyone’s creativity.

“In addition to directly aiding irrigators, CACO is funding research with both the United States Geological Survey and Colorado State University. With their help, we’ll have a better understanding about water movement, evapotranspiration and the efficiency of irrigation methods.” notes Christopher.

Funding for applicants is a first come, first serve basis, and will be available throughout the year. For more information about CACO or CCWCD’s conservation efforts, visit our web site at www.ccwcd.org or contact Christopher Schall at 970-330-4540.