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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

Links