There is current research on-going at the UC Hopland Research & Extension Center that is looking at the spatial methods for low-cost restoration of rangeland ecosystem grasses. This project requires bounded runoff plots that harbor and collect rain-storm runoff through an elaborate metering system.
Rangelands in California have been degraded or lost due to removal of woody species, invasion by noxious plants, overgrazing, and development. Restoration is hindered by high costs and low returns because the entities that pay for restoration do not capture most of the benefits resulting from increased ecosystem services. This project aims at promoting restoration of rangelands by testing and disseminating spatial methods to reduce cost and improve the success of vegetation and seeding of native species.
Here you see one of the described "bounded" plots and the runoff water flow collector and metering system. In this case, a typical flow meter to measure water was found to be inadequate due to too low of flow and pressure to turn the meter. So, UC researchers and UC Hopland staff designed and fabricated super-large "tip-buckets" to measure the flow. As far as we know, these tip-buckets are unique because of their large size, and have proved to work well.
