Watershed Best Management Practices

• Convert eroding roads to stable roads with easily obtained materials such as bales of hay and rocks and gravel. For more information contact the Mendocino Resource Conservation District at (707) 468-9223 x 3 for the Handbook for Forest Ranch Roads.
• Purchase inexpensive less-polluting alternatives to household oils and chemicals. Examples include: phosphate-free laundry and dishwashing detergents.
• Limit paved surfaces. Pavement increases run-off, leads to flooding, and decreases water quality.
• Landscape with nature. Irrigate during cooler hours of the day, and limit fertilizer applications on lawns and gardens. Do not spray chemicals within 50 feet of a waterway.
• Properly manage your septic system, which reduces costs over time and preserves water quality downstream.
• Store and dispose of chemicals properly. Call the County Waste Management Agency for guidelines on disposal of hazardous waste.
• Take note of road and driveway ditches or culverts which drain directly to the creek. Re-align ditches to drain to vegetated buffer zones or riparian areas.
• Contact CCWI for additional guidelines you can use to keep sediment and chemicals out of your creek.
• Fence cattle to prevent them from walking through the creek.
• Develop a waste management plan for livestock to reduce waste entering water.
• Reduce the use of pesticides.
• Manage irrigation by improving water use efficiency.
• Manage livestock to prevent overgrazing.
• Plant riparian (streamside) vegetation.
• Contact the Natural Resources Conservation Service Petaluma field office for both professional services and funding assistance at (707) 794-1242x3.

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