State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program (SWEEP)

The State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP) provides financial assistance to growers for on-farm irrigation system improvements that both reduce GHG emissions and save water.

It is administered by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Program Summary

Year Launched: 2014
Grants awarded to date: $123 million (CDFA)
Total projects funded: 1,330
CDFA estimated water savings (annually): 144,000 acre-ft of water annually, enough to fill over 72,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools (CDFA).
CDFA estimated greenhouse gas reductions (annually): 93,800 metric tons of CO2e, or the equivalent of removing 203,000 cars from the road for one year (CDFA).
Status of grant rounds:12/19/2023: Unfortunately, due to current budget uncertainties, CDFA is pausing the current SWEEP Direct-to-Producer solicitation. Please visit the CDFA website for additional updates.

Find additional resources, including a CalCAN fact sheet on the program and more information from the CDFA.

State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program Demand

Farmer and rancher demand for SWEEP continues to outpace available funding, as demonstrated by the graph below.

State Water Efficiency & Enhancement Program History

In 2014, under an emergency drought declaration, Governor Brown authorized a new program called the State Water Efficiency and Enhancement Program (SWEEP). Funding for the program has come from the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, raised from cap-and-trade allowance revenue, as well as Propositions 1 and 68.

Eligible projects currently include:

• Weather, soil or plant based sensors for irrigation scheduling
• Micro-irrigation or drip systems
• Conversion of a fossil fuel pumps to solar, wind, electric, or natural gas
• Improved energy efficiency (e.g., retrofitting or replacing pumps)
• Low pressure irrigation systems
• Variable frequency drives to reduce energy use and match pump flow to load requirements.
• Reduced pumping (e.g., improved irrigation scheduling)
• Other management practices that save water and reduce GHG emissions (e.g., soil management practices such as cover cropping and compost addition that increase water-holding capacity)

For more information on current grant cycles and application procedures, see the CDFA website.