4-5-11

Today we had two field visits. The first was apparently a project they had discussed 10 years ago but faced a problem with a neighbor not allowing a pipe through his property. Now 10 years later, the neighbor is back and complaining about the water running off onto his property. The field is currently being rented out to a strawberry grower and is completely lined with plastic. The slope of the property means that all the water gathers on one side of the property. This combined with the plastic means a lot of water is heading to the neighbors property. Since piping it through his property was not an option last time, we decided that this time there could be some regrading and then a sediment pond with controlled releases. While this is one of the most extensive projects and well defined field visits we've done, I was not really feeling useful. Most of the meeting was discussing what was an option before and a lot of it was technical. I definitely benefited from hearing what the solution was to the problem but didn't have anything to contribute because it was so technical.

The next visit was so interesting mostly because of the location. It was in the Aptos area off a private road and had a pasture next to the house. But the most noticeable thing I saw was the 3 llamas lining the road way. Overall this was an incredible property, but we were there to address their land issues. The issue this land owner was having was a stream running through the middle of the pasture. Because of the amount of rain we had, it had grown to be rather large and she had moved the horses out of the pasture because it was unsafe due to unstable ground. That resulted in the grass growing really high, higher than the horses would probably eat. The solution for her land was to pick a better seed mix and to possibly fence off the stream. In reality, it is most likely against the law that the horses were in the pasture at all. When there is a waterway on a property with horses, there are a lot of issues regarding manure. While they had been put in the sacrifice area (a smaller location for the winter so they don't destroy the field) she had been gathering the manure to put in a compost pile. But during the year when they have free range of the pasture, she was not collecting the manure. We suggested maybe splitting the pasture so that the stream was no longer an option. Of course this would be difficult considering it was directly in the middle.

Overall, the day ended well. I think one of the best benefits from this job not pertaining to what I'm learning is the opportunity to see parts of Santa Cruz county I would not normally be allowed to. This was a private road location and we were welcomed onto their land with their permission. It is truly lucky that we get welcomed in considering how wary most people are of the federal government walking around their property. It truly shows the reputation the NRCS carries.