If you are considering participating in IID’s On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program (OFECP) or are already enrolled, SWIIM can help maximize your water conservation and corresponding payments.
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Are you leaving money on the table each season by not understanding the incentives provided for the water that you may already be conserving?
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Are you struggling to find the time to understand the OFECP and how best to participate?
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Do you know that if water conserved on your fields is not correctly accounted for, your water use history could be impacted?
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Do you want to verify your conservation data but don’t know of any third-party verification services?
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Do you know how the OFECP uses evapotranspiration (ET) calculations along with water delivery records to compute conservation?
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Are you tracking your water deliveries and ET throughout each season to maximize your conservation?
If you grow in California’s Imperial Valley, you know the challenges associated with farming in this unique region. Among the many factors affecting your farming operation, irrigation management is playing a growing role in profitability. With the right tools, you can optimize your crop production and water use to achieve quantified, guided water conservation and increased revenue, while protecting your water use history. You can choose how much you conserve and maximize your income from a combination of crop production and water conservation.
SWIIM has been working with Imperial Valley growers for the past three years to facilitate maximum conservation through on-farm water use efficiency improvements and careful evaluation of crop and water records. A partner of Western Growers Association, SWIIM has been named a top 25 ag-tech company two years in a row by Forbes Magazine. We work with the irrigation district on your behalf and install flow measurement systems on headgates and in farm ditches to verify deliveries. These measurements are balanced against precise crop water use estimates utilizing data from weather stations and satellites. Tailwater monitoring is also included when needed to enhance the water balance as an irrigation management and auditing tool. This is all done on a field-level basis for your specific crop rotation, soil properties, and irrigation practices.
“With increasing pressure on water allocations, accurate accounting for usage is a must. SWIIM’s monitoring and consulting services helped support my efforts. They manage the entire process and act as my trusted advocate when it comes time to review reports from the district.”
– Jack Vessey | President, Vessey and Company
SWIIM has been called “The CPAs of on farm agricultural water accounting.” We produce a water balance report that looks like your checkbook ledger, detailing water inflows, outflows, surpluses/deficits, and a balanced account at the end of the season. SWIIM also goes far beyond providing user-oriented software. We evaluate your operation’s water measurement and management needs, develop a custom measurement solution, and take responsibility to ensure our reports and underlying data will stand up to professional scrutiny.
As an example, if you were to be called into the IRS for a tax audit, would you prefer to go in by yourself or would you bring your trusted accountant or CPA to advocate on your behalf with a detailed review of your financial accounting? Most of us would do the latter. Following that logic, why would you discuss your water use records with any third party without data and guidance from on-farm accounting experts, especially if you consider water one of your most precious resources?
What does SWIIM’s monitoring and reporting services do for you?
SWIIM offers a water conservation consulting and monitoring package that has a proven track record in the Imperial Valley to maximize conservation under the On-Farm Efficiency Conservation Program. It combines automated, minute-by-minute, calibrated measurement of water deliveries at the headgate (the same place IID takes measurements by hand), modeling of actual crop ET, estimation of leaching volumes and, where applicable, measurement of tail water. ET models and delivery estimates are used to calculate your efficiency conservation and potential payment, so ensuring that your water account truly balances is a critical component.
All that is required from you is basic information ‐ crops, acreage, germination dates, irrigation dates, & harvest dates ‐ from there, SWIIM’s expert staff will complete every step including:
- Acquisition of water delivery records from IID and analysis of those records to assist in planning conservation efforts.
- Assessment of your farm’s composition and installation of monitoring equipment to handle selected fields, as needed.
- Estimation of crop water use for all your fields, through a combination of regional weather station and satellite data.
- Preparation and submission of OFECP proposals documents to IID on your behalf.
- Verification of the accuracy of IID’s conservation calculations, advocating for your best interest.
- Assistance with IID’s contracting and payment process.
Whether you’ve never tried the program — or you have been in it for years, managing it internally with your staff; our team of local experts in on-farm water management can help you implement and/or fine-tune a water management plan that protects your resources and maximizes your returns. In much the same way that you would likely hire an expert to handle your financial accounting, you now can hire an expert in on-farm water accounting. Flexible packages are available – our experienced technical sales team will tailor a solution to fit the needs of your Imperial Valley operation.