Rancho Water’s CropSWAP Conversion Program by Rancho California Water District Mar 31, 2022 Rancho California Water District’s (Rancho Water/District) crop growers in the Temecula Valley have undeniably been hit with mounting demands to maintain a successful annual crop: rising costs of imported water; an ongoing statewide drought threatening the water supply; an increasing demand being placed on the energy grids; increased foreign competition; and high salinity levels in the water supply. The result for many was a cost to produce crops that outweighed the profit. In 2016, Rancho Water set out to change that narrative. The District implemented an agricultural crop conversion program called CropSWAP (Sustainable Water for Agricultural Production). The CropSWAP program was created with the intent to: 1) decrease demand on both imported and local water supplies; 2) help the region build resilience to drought; 3) efficiently use scarce water resources; 4) support the agricultural economy through conversion to crops that are more economically viable; 5) save water; 6) improve water management; 7) improve energy efficiency; and 8) reduce greenhouse gas emissions. CropSWAP is designed to financially assist the District’s agricultural and agricultural/residential customers with crop conversion projects that are at least one acre in size and save at least one acre foot of water per acre, per year. Crop conversion projects are those that save water through replacement of higher water use crops (like avocados) with lower water use crops such as wine grapes, olives, and cut flowers. The implementation of CropSWAP for a local crop grower includes both pre-conversion and postconversion audits, which are conducted to establish baseline water use and to quantify expected water savings. Water saving expectations are met by reducing CropSWAP participants’ water budget allocations to reflect the water needs of the crop to which the farm was converted. Actual water savings are quantified through monitoring of water consumption at each farm implementing crop conversion activities. CropSWAP plays a significant role in lessening the demand on imported water – an important mission given the ongoing long-term drought conditions in California. The Program mitigates imported water demand from both the Bay Delta and the Colorado River to reduce overall water demand from Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (MWD), thus abiding by drought declarations and requirements, and sustaining the limited local water supply. The Program also improves the region’s economic viability of local agriculture through conversion to lower water use crops. CropSWAP began after the District was awarded $3 million in grant funding from the Department of Water Resources and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. One million dollars in funding was also contributed by Rancho Water. Since its inception in 2016, Rancho Water has been actively promoting the CropSWAP program through digital advertising, a brochure sent to all new agricultural customers, and presentations about the program to growers during an annual farm managers meeting and at local agricultural group meetings. Once approved, local farmers can proceed with the crop conversion and get a reimbursement check of up to $15,000 per converted acre to cover much of the cost of the conversion. CropSWAP has long-term goals of water supply reliability, efficient water management, and economic sustainability for local agriculture. To quantify these results, Rancho Water staff performs a water use analysis and conducts irrigation system audits both before and after the conversions. Pre-conversion inspections assess baseline water demand and irrigation system efficiency. The post-conversion inspection documents irrigation system improvements and post conversion water demand reductions. The methodology for achieving water demand reductions for agriculture is new and innovative, even without the need for technology or equipment, which makes it a relatively simple program to replicate at other agencies. While the idea of providing financial incentives for replacing high water use plant materials with lower water use varieties has been used by other agencies for urban water conservation programs (i.e. turf replacement), this approach has not been used in the context of agricultural demand reduction programs. Plus, the potential water savings for CropSWAP is significantly higher and comes at a much lower cost (i.e., ~$500/AF savings). Further, the District maintains a budget-based tiered rate structure that allocates a specific amount of water for each agricultural customer based on crop type. With implementation of CropSWAP, the District has the ability to ensure water savings through the reductions of water allocations at each crop conversion property. Rancho Water is one of only a few water suppliers in California that has adopted and implemented this type of rate structure that enables the enforcement of water savings resulting from the implementation of CropSWAP. CropSWAP also creatively helps the Rancho Water service area as a whole. The innovative water conservation program improves regional economic sustainability resulting in the provision of jobs, support of local tourism in the ever-expanding Temecula wine country, and increases land/property values. At this point, 29 crop conversion projects have been fully completed and operational for more than one year. These projects represent 156 acres of converted crops, have increased on-farm irrigation efficiency by over 20% on average, and have resulted in actual water savings of 558 acre feet in their first year of operation. Over a ten-year period, it is expected that water savings will be in excess of 5,000 acre feet for these participants. The most popular crop to switch out so far has been avocados since they require a high amount of rainfall or irrigation to thrive. Crop growers have chosen to switch to cut flowers, wine grapes, coffee, passionfruit, and even dragon fruit. With the successful Temecula wine country in Rancho Water’s backyard, many local wineries are even interested in partnering with landowners so they can expand their wine grape production. The CropSWAP program continues to be available to the District’s customers and more crop conversion projects are underway. With these additional projects, more water savings will be realized in the coming years.
