SJRWMD Board approves funding for five Lake County ag cost-share projects

Board approves ranking of agricultural projects that conserve water, reduce nutrients

COCOA — Fifteen agricultural projects will share in cost-share funds from two different funding programs of the St. Johns River Water Management District to assist farmers and growers on projects that conserve water and reduce nutrient loading to area waterways.

“Since the Districtwide Agricultural Cost-Share Program began in July 2015, we have funded 103 partnership projects to help farmers and growers conserve water and reduce nutrient loads,” said St. Johns River Water Management District Executive Director Dr. Ann Shortelle.

At Tuesday’s meeting, the Governing Board approved the following eight projects to receive Districtwide Agricultural Cost-Share Program funds this cycle:

• Long and Scott Farms Inc., for irrigation conversion
• Cherrylake Inc., for irrigation retrofit
• Twin Lakes-Cherrylake Partnership LLC, for pump automation
• Summer Lake-Grace Grover Partnership, for pump automation
• Lennon & Wilson, for pump automation

Including three other projects in Alachua, Marion, and Putnam Counties, these projects are estimated to collectively conserve 57 million gallons of water a year and reduce total nitrogen by 6,614 pounds and total phosphorus by 761 pounds per year. Since 2012 the District has funded more than 225 agricultural cost-share projects.