PROGRAMS :: Watershed Stewardship Project

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Solano Project

Survey Summary

Solano Conservation and Restoration Manual PDF 2.5mb

The Community Alliance with Family Farmers' Watershed Stewardship Project provides rural landowners in Solano and Merced counties with information and contacts for improving their management of natural resources. Healthy watersheds are important for every member of our communities. Wise watershed management is the best way to sustain the local economy and the health of the rural environment.

• Wise watershed management is a long-term, cost-effective way to preserve your land and resources.
• Water conservation is essential to ensure consistent supplies in the future.
• Water quality is affected by pollution and sedimentation from agricultural, industrial and residential run-off. Sedimentation from field and ditch run-off and stream bank erosion is also a significant contributor to water quality problems.
• Flood control can be improved by management of riparian problems like weed infestations and habitat degradation or destruction.
• Habitat maintenance in riparian areas is critical to supporting biological diversity like fish and bird species. It also provides food sources for beneficial insect species that help reduce the need for chemical inputs in some agricultural operations. This keeps the water clean and the cost of farming down.
• Garbage dumping can be a source of toxic pollution, is unsightly and expensive to clean up.

Agriculture is the heart of the Central Valley. Farmers are charged with the task of protecting our natural resources as well as providing the food and fiber this country depends on. They rely on the land as we rely on them, and we must support their efforts.

Water ecosystems and aquatic habitat are affected by agricultural inputs.

Evidence is plentiful that pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers contribute significantly to the degradation of riparian and estuarine ecosystems. There are many farmers taking simple steps to avoid this contamination. These farmers are the examples we look to in seeking solutions to these problems without resorting to regulation.

Water quality and habitat management practices also impact Central Valley watersheds.

Over time, on-farm water management has developed with few incentives for highly efficient application techniques. Many farmers and landowners do not take full advantage of new methods that are also economically competitive. The complicated relationship between efficiency gains on one farm and the benefits to the entire water system have not been sufficiently explored in the agricultural setting. Our project seeks to make this information more accessible to Valley farmers.

Farm landscape dominates a good part of critical habitat area in the Bay-Delta region. Many farms and other lands are managed to provide water quality and wildlife benefits.

Despite perceived negative impacts, many farmers and landowners are utilizing techniques for encouraging wildlife on their land. They have a wealth of information about the benefits of a diverse agricultural ecosystem, as well as cost-effective techniques for rebuilding natural ecosystems. Innovative landowners maintain stream corridors that benefit both water quality and wildlife habitat.

Practical information is currently available to farmers on how to use native grasses in stabilizing ditches and waterways, the importance of flowering hedgerows as habitat for beneficial insects, or the benefits of bats and raptors in controlling farm pests. Where the interface between human systems and ecosystems is strong, landowners need to be empowered to make management decisions that positively change their environmental impact.

Biologically based systems for managing land have been shown to reduce the need for chemical pesticides and fertilizers, increase water use efficiency and provide habitat for wildlife.

Many farmers and landowners do not recognize these management practices, have little information about them and do not understand the positive economic impacts of biological agriculture. A 1996 study of Central Valley grower attitudes towards biological farming practices shows that almost half of the respondents strongly agree that biological farming practices minimize environmental and public health risks, but only 18 percent strongly agree that they optimize economic returns.

Other studies have shown that economic returns for growers using biological farming practices are on par with growers not using them. It appears that growers focus on regulatory constraints and perhaps worry unnecessarily about economic impacts. Both concerns can detract from the economic and ecological opportunities that accompany biological farming methods.

Solutions
To solve problems in the Bay-Delta watershed, partnerships are being established between farmers, landowners and other stakeholders to enhance communication and provide technical information and education about ways to improve ecosystem management for the benefit of the watershed. If we can show farmers and landowners that their economic interests will not be harmed by using biological management practices, we can begin to make long-term progress in reducing toxic inputs and restoring the Delta’s waterways and wildlife habitat.

For more information on CAFF's Watershed Stewardship Project contact the following people:

Solano County Project
Marcia Gibbs
(530) 756-8518, ext. 34
marcia@caff.org