Agriculture



Grazing of cattle and sheep is the most common farming activity. Most of the agricultural areas around the Bay are lowlands that were diked and drained to take advantage of the rich alluvial soils found in the floodplain. Prior to diking, these lands were probably at or near intertidal elevations and were probably wetland habitat types. Old tidal channels and sloughs are evident in many of the grazing lands. Often, these channels, when combined with drainage ditches, assist in draining low agricultural land. Because of this, many agricultural lands flood during winter rains. These areas are often referred to as seasonal wetlands.

Bacterial and chemical problems stem from the agricultural use of these areas because when water bodies are overloaded with nitrogen, algae and plankton can rapidly increase in numbers. This increase forms “blooms” which are sometimes called red or brown tides. This process, called eutrophication, has been identified by the National Research Council as the most serious pollution problem facing estuaries in the United States.

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