On a per acre basis, small parcels probably contribute more to flooding than ranches. Knowing that we have to live with periodic flooding, each of us can help lessen the impact by paying attention to drainage patterns and land uses. One important key is vegetation which slows down runoff and allows the soil to absorb and retain more water. A lot of information was also garnered from a watershed meeting in Bodega and a Sonoma County Farm Bureau conference. We discovered plenty of resources available to design and fund projects that improve land use practices which enhance water quality and thus fish habitat.
Funding is available to help the fish and hence the means to achieve our goals.
We also received help from Americorp volunteers, friends and neighbors. The NRCS and DFG encourage and fund environmentally sound livestock management practices, such as exclusionary fencing, revegetation, vegetative buffer strips, stream bank protection, controlled access, alternative water development, and prescribed grazing. Implementation of any of the above should improve both water quality and range productivity over the long haul. Both the fish and the landowner benefit. We built exclusionary fencing along the creek.