Organization: Sustainable Conservation
Mission: Sustainable Conservation helps California thrive by uniting people to solve the toughest challenges facing our land, air and water. Every day, we bring together businesses, landowners and government to steward the resources that we all depend on in ways that make economic sense.
Activities: Water Management - Water is in short supply in California. Sustainable Conservation evaluates new water management approaches so farms, the environment, and communities have the water they need for years to come. We work in the agriculture-rich Central Valley to evaluate and promote the capture of storm water flood flows on active farmland to replenish groundwater aquifers, California's most important drought reserve. In 2019, we helped recharge hundreds of acre-feet of water on Central Valley farmland. We also continued to perfect our innovative Groundwater Recharge Assessment Tool, which helps California irrigation districts and water managers maximize groundwater-recharge opportunities in their communities.
Accelerating Restoration - We make it easier for landowners to steward natural resources. We work with government agencies to simplify the permitting process so landowners can complete projects that restore streams, rebuild habitat, and reduce soil erosion in a few months rather than a few years. A significant 2019 accomplishment was working with agency partners to develop a programmatic Biological Assessment for the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to review, approve and use to issue a programmatic Biological Opinion (BO). A BO like this one is an example of a "pre-developed" permit, which eliminate the need to write a brand-new permit for each project. Now, projects just need to qualify for the pre-written permit to be eligible for approval. This new permit means 20 different types of common restoration projects that might impact the endangered species NMFS is charged with protecting can now move forward more quickly without sacrificing any environmental protections.
Dairies - We work with California dairy producers to promote management practices that are more protective of water and air quality and work economically. We've tested and refined an innovative liquid manure drip irrigation system that applies nutrients more precisely to crop root zones, which in turn leads to significantly less nitrogen leaching into groundwater supplies. In 2019, we continued our work under a national Natural Resources Conservation Innovation Grant on three commercial dairies covering more than 200 acres in the San Joaquin Valley. Our pilots have shown that dairies can produce the same or better yields with up to 75% less nitrogen, 40% less water, and 90% less nitrous oxide emissions. Nitrous oxide is a greenhouse gas 300 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, the chief greenhouse gas.
NTEE category: Environment
Secondary category: Animal-Related