Water quality
Overview
Good water quality is important for many reasons, including providing drinking water for humans and our animals, creating habitat for fisheries, and providing other ecosystem services. Thoughtful and careful land stewardship will keep water in good quality. Small acreage landowners can maintain water quality by limiting runoff and erosion, maintaining soil cover, and properly managing manure.
Figure 1: It is important to manage your land responsibly and think about water quality on your property, so streams like this one stay healthy! Picture/courtesy Theresa Becchetti.
Water Sources
In California, small acreage landowners may be utilizing either surface water or groundwater. Surface water is sourced from rivers, streams, and/or canals. You may buy surface water from your irrigation district or access surface water through water rights. Groundwater needs to be pumped from underground aquifers by using a well, and may be monitored by your county.
Measuring Water Quality
Water quality can be estimated by measuring the concentration of pollutants like pesticides, fertilizers, metals, or bacteria. A quick test will test water for electroconductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS). This publication from South Dakota State University provides a general guide for interpreting the suitability of water for livestock use.
Runoff and Erosion Control
Precipitation and irrigation contribute to water that is stored in the soil, which provides water for growing and sustaining plants. However, runoff occurs when rainfall or irrigation rates exceed the soil’s ability to infiltrate and store water. Runoff is when water moves across the ground and downhill towards streams and rivers. Therefore, it is important to avoid over fertilizing and using excess herbicides because these can be carried in runoff water and end up contaminating our waterways.
Erosion occurs when soil is loosened from the surface, transported, and deposited elsewhere. It can happen through water or wind processes. When runoff occurs, soil can be carried in the water and eroded. Soil or sediment that has eroded can clog waterways. Additionally, losing soil through erosion leads to pasture degradation and less capacity for you to provide forage for your livestock.
You can take runoff and erosion control measures such as avoiding over-irrigating and avoiding over-grazing, making sure to leave residual ground cover that protects the soil. You can also spread straw in areas that are prone to erosion to protect the soil. If a site is eroding, you can slow future erosion by staking straw wattles in place to stop the movement. Once you lose your soil, it’s hard to get it back!
Figure 2: Erosion is amplified by a lack of ground cover. In this picture, soil erodes off of a dirt road during an extreme rain event. Picture/courtesy Sequoia Williams.
Manure Management
Manure is another source of contamination for waterways. Manure can be high in nitrogen and phosphorous and be a source of bacterial contaminants like E. coli. Therefore, proper manure storage and management will help keep waterways clean.
Manure management on any property is a challenge, but especially on small acreage where you have less space, and potentially more animals per acre, animals in stalls, or a combination of both. A manure management guide was developed by the Alameda County Resource Conservation District (RCD). Specifically, it was created to help landowners with horses manage manure from stalls and turn outs. The information can be useful for all small acreage landowners in California, regardless of what livestock you have!
The University of Georgia has also created a guide for nutrient management on small farms, that you might find useful.
Figure 3: Keeping animals and their manure out of waterways helps keep them clean. Picture/courtesy Matthias Zomer via Pexels.
Ranch Water Quality Plan
University of California Agriculture and Natural Resource Advisors, Specialists, Faculty, and fellow Resource Conservation Districts (RCD's) first developed a Ranch Water Quality Short Course (RWQSC) about 30 years ago. A Ranch Water Quality Short Course is now available on-line, broken into topics with videos ranging from 5 to 30 minutes, with most about 15 minutes long. You can go at your own pace, pick the topic that is of interest to you, and fill out the worksheets for your "Back 40," in order to create your own plan to reduce erosion or pollution into nearby waterways. Through this short course, you will learn simple steps that can be taken to improve water quality on your property, regardless of the size of your "Back 40".