Financial Assistance Helps Florida Nursery Owners Save Water

Randall Weiseman Citrus, Florida, General, Industry News Release, Nursery Crops, Specialty Crops, USDA-NRCS, Water

Application deadline for financial assistance May 20

From USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Florida:

USDAGAINESVILLE, Fla., April 15, 2016 — Nursery owners in Lake, Seminole, Orange, Osceola, Polk and Volusia counties can apply until May 20 for financial and technical assistance to install water conservation practices through a special sign-up for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), administered by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Financial assistance will be available for eligible nursery owners to install evaporative cooling pad recovery systems or improve existing systems. “In Florida, assisting agricultural producers conserve water is a top priority for NRCS. One nursery with an improved recycled water nursery cooling pad system can save around 22,000 gallons a month. Through this special funding we plan to assist nursery operations to implement practices that will save thousands of gallons of water per month,” said Florida State Conservationist, Russell Morgan.

Although applications are accepted on a continuous basis for all programs, funding selections are typically made once a year.

For more information or to apply, contact the NRCS district conservationists in the following counties:
Lake: Tavares Service Center, Suzy Daubert, 352-742-7005 x3
Seminole: Cocoa/Partnership Office, David Millard, 321-633-1702 x241
Orange & Osceola: Kissimmee Service Center, Chuck O’Rourke, 407-847-4465 x105
Polk: Bartow Service Center, Edward Sheehan, 863-533-2051 x3
Volusia: Deland Service Center, George Johnson, 386-985-4037 x3

To learn about technical and financial assistance available from NRCS, go to Getting Started with NRCS.