The National Water Quality Initiative (NWQI) is a partnership between NRCS and other federal, state and local partners focused on water-quality improvement in targeted agricultural watersheds. This partnership-based initiative pools public and private resources to improve water quality and strengthens agricultural productivity. With targeted on-farm investments and watershed assessment resources, NWQI focuses resources on small watersheds that can deliver the greatest benefits for local, regional and national water quality.

Through the NWQI initiative, NRCS California identified the Oso Flaco Creek watershed and Santa Maria River watershed as high priority for investments in water quality and awarded the Cahuma and Coastal San Luis RCDs funding to conduct initial Needs Assessments with growers in the watershed.

The Needs Assessment for the Oso Flaco Watershed was completed in September 2022 and determined that growers were primarily concerned with adapting their agricultural operations to meet the RWQCB’s Ag Order 4.0 requirements for nitrate runoff, and specific NRCS Conservation Practices were identified for implementation. NRCS provides targeted technical and financial assistance for growers to implement these conservation practices.

In 2024, Cachuma and Coastal San Luis RCD and Creek Lands Conservation partnered with NRCS to develop a similar Needs Assessment for the Santa Maria River watershed. Following a brief pause due to federal funding restrictions, the assessment is moving forward and will be completed in early 2026. 

Partners: NRCS, Cachuma RCD, Creek Lands Conservation, County of SLO, County of Santa Barbara, & Regional Water Quality Control Board

Funders: NRCS

RCD Contact: Hallie Richard, hrichard@coastalrcd.org