California Sea Grant College Program

In this project, scientists show that coastal dairies can reduce pathogen pollution in runoff through a combination of inexpensive, adaptable management practices, such as by planting barley and rye grasses around lots holding young calves. The grasses help filter and trap pathogens and are called “vegetative buffer strips.”

The project also demonstrates the utility of mussels in concen- trating and hence detecting the fecal parasite Cryptosporidium. Sentinel mussels were used to show the sporadic yet widespread presence of the parasite in coastal Central California, irrespective of proximity to livestock runoff and/or human sewage.