Chimineas Ranch 28 Tank Project
Water is the name of the game
— without it there would be no
wildlife. This project is part of a
master plan to supply water to all
46 sections of the Carrizo Plains
Ecological Reserve. The 28 Tank
Project is located in the southern
half of the Chimineas Unit of the
Reserve, which is north of Highway 166 in San Luis Obispo County.
Past water projects on the Reserve have proved to be very successful in improving the Carrizo
Plains Deer Herd and other wildlife. As the deer and other wildlife
numbers increase, they can be expected to venture into the adjacent
forest and BLM lands. That will
result in better hunting opportunities for the general hunting public.
This project took place in
the Red Rock Canyon area of the
southern half of the Reserve. This
area has been without a year-round
water source for wildlife for more
than 15 years. This is phase three
of an ongoing project of which the
ultimate goal is supplying water
for wildlife to each section of the
southern half of the Reserve. This
area is used by deer, tule elk, pigs
and other wildlife. Phase one was
completed in 2011 and phase two
in the summer of 2013.
Project funds were used to buy
3,500 feet of piping, fittings, valves,
gravel and supplies. The piping
was run underground to feed the
water. A new replacement tank
foundation was built and a new
5,000-gallon water tank and water
trough were also installed.
With the drought that California finds itself in, this water means
survival for wildlife in the area.
In an effort to continue improvement of wildlife numbers
on the Chimineas Unit, CDA also
recently approved funding for the
Three Gates Project to supply yearround water to another area of the
unit.
This trail camera photo shows that this
bull tule elk only needed a couple days
before he began using the water trough.
DFW staff was a very important part of this project.
Shown is the wildlife-friendly
concrete water trough.
California Deer
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