Welcome to Coastal San Luis RCD

The Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District (CSLRCD) offers a variety of programs to assist farmers, ranchers, landowners and other watershed users in improving and protecting soil and water resources.

The CSLRCD has a strong relationship with the Natural Resource Conservation Service helping the local community through technical assistance, funding opportunities and permit coordination. This partnership has facilitated implementation of hundreds of conservation projects in Coastal San Luis Obispo County.

Watersheds Map of the District

Current Projects

California coastal watersheds are predicted to have wet seasons that are wetter and dry seasons that are drier. Recent evidence on the Central Coast also indicates a shift towards shorter wet seasons and longer dry seasons, at least for the last 10 years. In the current drought, ranch operations struggled both with substantially reduced forage production and reduced drinking water availability for livestock. Finding ways to capture moisture so that it can be used for plant growth and/or water for animals (including wildlife) will be central to sustaining ranching enterprises in the Central Coast region.

Ranchers can cope with a changing climate more effectively by employing water stewardship strategies that capture, conserve and recycle water. Building healthier soils can help ranchers enhance resiliency of agricultural operations by increasing soil water holding capacity, infiltration rates, and forage production. Increasing the soil moisture and carbon content will encourage higher rates of biological activity and carbon sequestration as well as increasing the net primary production of forage that is critical to the success of cattle ranching.

A ranch in Morro Bay was chosen to demonstrate a variety of effective rangeland best management practices to cope with climate change at the ranch scale. Practices will buffer against climate change impacts and help maintain the viability of the agricultural operation in the face of reduced water supply, increasing temperatures, and greater variability in weather events. The practices include rangeland soil building through rotational grazing, compost application, and mechanical modification using a keyline plow. Other practices include targeted animal impact grazing, sediment capture, riparian enhancement and streambank stabilization. While these measures are primarily intended to increase agricultural resilience in the face of climate change, they have the added benefits of reduced erosion, increased wetland/riparian habitat and increasing carbon sequestration on rangeland soils. The project will also demonstrate practices that can be used on their own or together as an integrated approach to rangeland management. These practices used in tandem are also known as carbon farming and emulate best available research from the Marin Carbon Project.

Join the Team at CSLRCD --

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Seeking New Board Member

For more than 50 years, the Coastal San Luis Resource Conservation District has been helping landowners with soil and water conservation projects and education that protect the creeks and rivers leading into Morro Bay, Oso Flaco Lake and the Cuyama River.

The seven-member volunteer Board of Directors currently has a vacancy. Anyone interested in serving on the Board or interested in the RCD and its work, please see the Board Director job description (below) or call the RCD office at (805) 772-4391.

Letters of interest addressed to the Board of Directors at the CSL RCD office; please send to 1203 Main Street Street B, Morro Bay, CA 93442.

Board Director Job Description

Candidates must be registered voters in California and must reside in the District or own property in the District. Directors are either elected or appointed by the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors and serve a four-year term. There are no limits on the number of terms. Directors receive no compensation, but can be reimbursed for pre-approved travel and other associated expenses when conducting work of the District.

Board Members are expected to:

• Be interested in local conservation issues and willing to learn about them

• Attend monthly Board meetings

• Participate in District policy and program development

• Provide financial guidance and oversight

• Provide guidance and direction to staff and maintain fair and equitable personnel policies

Qualifications:

• Understand the need for conservation of soil, water and other natural resources.

• Other qualifications that may be helpful are:

a) Environmental awareness

b) Skills in conduct of meetings and parliamentary procedure

c) Technical background in environmental sciences or agriculture

Other Requirements:

• Complete ethics training (available on-line)

• Complete Statement of Economic Interests (FPPC Form 700) upon assuming position, annually, and upon leaving position

For further information about the seven-member Board of Directors:

• Visit the Coastal San Luis RCD website: www.coastalrcd.org