The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), a farmland trust in California’s Marin County, is launching a Drought Resilience and Water Security (DRAWS) initiative to help address critical water shortages affecting Marin County farmers and ranchers.
MALT is coordinating with several local organisations on drought relief efforts, working most closely with the following partners; Marin Resource Conservation District (MRCD), Marin County Department of Agriculture, University of California Cooperative Extension (UCCE), USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Students and Teachers Restoring A Watershed (STRAW), Marin County Farm Bureau.
MALT CEO, Thane Kreiner said: “We’re in the midst of potentially the worst drought to hit California in 50 years. A group of organisations is taking collective action to address this dire threat to Marin County’s ranchers and farmers and our food security.”
MALT stewardship programme manager, Eric Rubenstahl said: “The DRAWS initiative is a direct response to worsening drought conditions and builds on MALT’s highly successful Stewardship Assistance Program.”
As part of the DRAWS initiative, MALT is investing $250,000 in drought resilience and water security projects through an extension of its Stewardship Assistance Program (SAP), which awards grants that provide farmers and ranchers with the resources they need to sustainably steward their land.
Created in 2002 as an effort to improve soil and water quality in the region, SAP has served as an effective tool in increasing agricultural utility and improving ecological function on MALT ranches. Due to the widespread nature of the drought crisis, the DRAWS initiative will expand SAP to accept grant applications from all ranchers and farmers in Marin County. DRAWS grants will be evaluated based on their ability to create the greatest long-term value for the agricultural community.
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