California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI)

Water security has long been a concern for the agriculture sector in California, and this has only intensified in the current multi-year drought. Approaches to addressing water supply problems have centered on irrigation management and technology, which have met with a lot of success. Yet a wide range of sustainable on-farm land and water management practices have been largely overlooked for their important contribution to improving water storage and use efficiency, reducing costs for farmers, and enhancing overall fertility. Learn more at CAWSI's website at www.agwaterstewards.org.

In 2007, the OAEC WATER Institute joined with the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF), the Ecological Farming Association (EFA), the California Institute for Rural Studies (CIRS), the Agriculture and Land-Based Training Association (ALBA), the Polaris Institute and the Wild Farm Alliance to formulate and promote sustainable agricultural solutions to the water crisis. In 2008, the group published a white paper called Water Stewardship: Ensuring a Secure Future for California Agriculture and formally launched the California Agricultural Water Stewardship Initiative (CAWSI). CAWSI promotes approaches to agricultural water management that support the viability of agriculture, conserve water, and protect ecological integrity in California.

In 2009, CAWSI compiled an online Agricultural Water Stewardship Resource Center, which provides information and resources about important on-farm water management practices.

Follow CAWSI on Twitter at /agwaterstewards  and on Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/California-Agricultural-Water-Stewardship-Initiative/189640503675?filter=2), and sign up for the CAWSI news service (http://agwaterstewards.org/txp/E-mail-Sign-Up/).