Some of the water scarcity issues on my land include the river not flooding the valley bottom for the last 2 years and it’s not looking very likely for this spring either. The slough on the east side of the river serves as a source of stock water, both for cattle on the bench and we pump water to the top of Big Mountain just east of there for summer pasture. It’s the only source of water for miles around up there and is very crucial to our ranch but is also greatly appreciated by the wildlife in the area. For 2 years now I’ve had to bring the cattle home several weeks early because the slough has run dry. This impacts the grass I’ve banked for fall and winter grazing enormously. I would like to figure out what I can do to mitigate that.
This first photo is a picture Big Mountain where we pump the water to in the summer. The next two are of the river bottom, and they’re not very good but it shows the river and slough areas where the willows are which is what we pump from. The last photo is of a bear swimming in our tank just for fun!