Lesson 3 - Tips For Managing Livestock Near Streams Information Sheet

Acknowledgement: Taken from "Living on the Land 2001"

1. Water away from the streambanks if possible. Use nose pumps or some other device.
2. If livestock are watered at the stream, limit their area of access and harden it with rock large enough to stay in place during a flood.
3. Where livestock routinely cross a stream, or in a more appropriate location, harden the banks and bed by sinking in rock large enough to stay in place during a flood.
4. If livestock graze on streambanks, limit their access to a fraction of the growing season through planned rotation grazing.
5. Avoid grazing streambanks when soils are moist and malleable.
6. Avoid grazing pastures when soil is moist and compactable. Wet and dry soil compacts less than moist soil.
7. If the use is season-long, limit forage utilization to maintain a 3-inch to 6-inch stubble height along the bank.
8. Limit livestock consumption of willows or other woody plants that are needed to dissipate stream energy. To allow a young stand protection from hedging, keep half of each year’s available shoots ungrazed.
9. Build fences away from the stream so that floods will not wash them out or cut their banks away.
10. If fences must cross the stream, build them so that floodwaters can pass without catching debris at the fence.
11. Place salt, other chemicals, feed, and supplements out of the floodplain or as far away from the stream as possible.
12. Graze to keep pastures healthy – see Module 5, Lesson 4.
13. Keep corrals or feeding areas and other animal handling facilities out of the floodplain, or as far away from the stream as possible.
14. Provide a well-vegetated buffer between the stream and any unvegetated areas that may erode soil or collect manure.

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