Where Grazing and Regulations Meet: Working Together for Ranching and Water Quality
Goal
Improve water quality and water cycling on Central Coast rangelands.
Description
Water quality is important for healthy humans, livestock, and wildlife. Much of California’s fresh water falls as rain on rangelands that are grazed by livestock. Because of this, the needs of ranchers and others in need of highly functional water cycles intersect. Through their use of land, ranchers aim to maintain economically viable businesses while at the same time being good stewards. Water quality regulators are tasked with developing and enforcing water quality objectives and implementing plans that will best protect the area's waters while recognizing local differences in climate, topography, geology and hydrology.
This meeting provided an opportunity for these groups, along with others, to develop a more nuanced understanding of each other’s perspectives and of the possibilities to manage for improved water quality and highly functional water cycles on rangelands. The Central Coast Rangelands Coalition hopes that continued communication between ranchers, regulators, and scientists will lead to improved water quality and quantity flowing through rangelands.
Objectives
- Increase awareness of the research regarding rangelands and water quality.
- Explore two approaches to the management of water-cycling on rangelands.
- Offer a forum for a conversation between Water Board members, ranchers and others regarding current approaches to or thinking about rangeland management vis a vis water quality and its possible regulation.
- Brainstorm desirable strategies that would result in high-quality water flowing from California rangelands.
Instructor Information
| Dr. Randy Dahlgren Professor of Soil Science and Pedologist / Soil Mineralogist UC Cooperative Extension |
Mr. Wes Gray Environmental Scientist Hollister Hills State Vehicular Recreation Area |
| Mr. Ken Harris Executive Officer Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board |
Mr. Kevin Kester Rancher National Cattlemen’s Beef Association Policy Division Chairman |
| Mr. Joe Morris Rancher Morris Grassfed Beef |
Dr. Leslie Roche Rangeland Management Specialist UC Cooperative Extension |
Contact
Grey Hayes
Sponsors
Documents & Publications
Workshop Materials
| Document | Author/Source |
| Agenda- Where Grazing and Regulations Meet Working Together for Ranching and Water Quality | Devii Rao Elkhorn Slough Coastal Training Program August 2015 |
| Nutrient Dynamics and Water Quality on Rangelands | Randy Dahlgren Department of Land, Air and Water Resources University of California - Davis October 2015 |
| Rangeland Water Quality—Research and Education Update | Leslie Roche, Ken Tate, Carissa Rivers, and Rob Atwill UC Cooperative Extension October 2015 |
Other Information
| Document | Author/Source |
| Rangeland Water Quality Planning, Education, and Science in California | Leslie Roche, David Lewis, Morgan Doran, Ken Tate Rangeland Watershed Laboratory March 2015 |