Water Management

The quality and quantity of water available in America is directly correlated to the condition of the land.

The land, when covered with diverse vegetation, also serves as a sponge, slowing rain as it hits the land, funneling it into aquifers below or filtering it as it runs into streams, rivers and lakes. Well-managed riparian areas, where the land meets the water, are crucial interfaces between the land and the water.

Land condition affects saltwater as surely as it affects fresh water. Rivers flow to the sea. The estuaries, some of the world’s most productive and important ecosystems, occur where fresh water meets saline water. Their long-term health is only as good as the fresh water flowing into them.

Latest articles

Read more about water management practices:

Holistic Management vs Conventional Management: A Stark Look.

This footage was shot on the same day, in 2-neighboring countries (Zimbabwe and Botswana), on different land bases which use different forms of management.   With thanks to The Africa Center for Holistic Management (ACHM) […]

With Dams Removed, Salmon Will Have the Run of a Western River

“When people and their livelihoods are given equal weight with environmental outcomes, are dam removals good or bad?  

California Dam Demolitions a Victory for Some, Devastation for Others

Everybody is for salmon. But, here’s “The Rest of the Story”.   Due to reckless and hasty execution, decades-long damage has been done to the spawning grounds of the salmon supposedly helped by dam removals. […]

Examples of Grassland Restoration – Excerpt from Talk by Allan Savory at Tufts University

Excerpted from Allan Savory’s presentation on January 25, 2013 at Tufts University’s Fletcher School, this segment highlights examples of how Holistic Management restores grasslands from land that’s degraded to desert. This innovative, natural, and simple […]

Can Sheep Save the Planet?

“Desertification is a fancy word for land that is turning to desert,” states Allan Savory in his quiet but inspirational form.     Desertification is happening to about two-thirds of the world’s grasslands, accelerating climate […]

King Charles: How Cattle Can Restore Habitat and Wildlife

“King Charles comments on Allan Savory and his integrated approach to ranching and farming, and the role ruminants for the health of grasslands. Segment from speech given by the Prince to the IUCN World Conservation […]

SAWS Wins Battle to Control Wastewater It Releases Into San Antonio River

“This is a huge and positive development for water quality in the lower Guadalupe River, its bays, estuaries, wildlife, and fisheries.”  

Miracle in the Nevada Desert

Beaver and cattle are symbiotic. Together they can turn desert into wetlands.        NOTE: this post was originally published on April 19, 2017, and then reposted on September 9, 2021

The Diesel-Powered Beavers of the Big Hole

Irrigation canals have many unintended benefits on wild habitats and animals.

Growing Rain in the Desert

As discussed below, “More available moisture on the landscape would mean more moisture in the atmosphere. More atmospheric moisture would mean more rain…”  

Soil for Water

Learn more about NCAT’s Soil for Water project, working to capture and hold more water in the soil. “Your soil health is going to keep you in business. If you take care of your soil, […]

Can Beavers Restore Far-West Texas?

Two so-called invasive species, cattle and beavers, have the power to restore desert habitats.     NOTE: this post was originally published to this site on April 12, 2017 AND on August 26, 2021.

Diversity of Life at a Beaver Pond

  Posted to Vimeo by Susanna Kamon, who writes, “A compilation video of some of the wildlife that visited a beaver pond in New Hampshire over a six-month period. The series shows beavers, river otters, […]

Allan Savory and the Science of Tracking

Over the last 60 years, Allan Savory has at different times worn a wildlife agency shirt and crest, his country’s military battle camouflage, the formal attire of a parliamentarian, and rancher’s dungarees. His in-the-bush and […]

Farming Sustainably with Regenerative Agriculture | Restoring Paradise

Regenerative agriculture offers a future for sustainable farming of meat in line with nature’s needs, by using holistic management and organic/biodynamic practices and even sequestering carbon in the soil – so important in our response […]

Why US Ranchers Are Becoming Beaver Believers

As described in the article blow, the US is bringing back nature’s best firefighters: beavers.  

Photographer Captures Saskatoon Beaver Bursting Through Ice ‘Like Superman’

A Saskatoon-based beaver has become a viral video star after a local photographer and nature enthusiast recently  filmed it bursting through an ice-covered pond.     NOTE: this video was originally posted to this site […]

Drought Busters 101 : A 21-Minute Video on Desert Grassland Restoration

“Drought Busters” is an inexpensive, quick, physiologically and economically sustainable method of habitat and wildlife restoration. We call it Drought Busters because it increases effective rainfall by rebuilding soil fertility and the soil’s ability to […]

Plug and Spread Made Easy

This is a 4-1/2 minute video about the “Plug-and-Spread” method of harvesting water from gullies. Water harvesting including Plug and Spread, in combination with Keyline sub-soiling, wild animal impact and planned grazing of cattle are […]

Healing the Land with One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts

Healing the Land with One Hundred Thousand Beating Hearts” is an inspirational short film that discusses regenerative agricultural practices on a Georgia farm.   This dying farm was regenerated using multi-species grazing in which all […]

The Science of Holistic Planned Grazing

Those who believe that Holistic Planned Grazing is not supported by science should watch this presentation by Dr. Richard Teaque, formerly of Texas A&M.    About Savory Institute: Grasslands represent 1/3 of the Earth’s terrestrial […]

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Follow along as we manage the resources within our fence lines, but think beyond the box.