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Cochise County approves consent agenda after brief discussion of $50,000-a-year grazing demonstration
Summary
The Cochise County Flood Control District approved consent agenda items including a standing contract for a grazing and mulching demonstration intended to improve soil infiltration and reduce local flooding. The board voted 3-0 to approve the consent agenda.
Cochise County’s Flood Control District approved consent agenda items March 11, including continuation of a five-year, $50,000-per-year contract for an agricultural demonstration intended to increase soil infiltration and reduce flooding on private properties.
The contract, described by county staff as a demonstration of managed grazing and mulching techniques, aims to document whether the approach — called “paddle grazing” and managed intensive grazing with mulch incorporation — improves soil infiltration in Cochise County. The board approved the consent agenda by a 3-0 vote.
Tricia Jeradette, a public commenter, asked whether the payment to the contractor was quarterly or annual and what benefit taxpayers would receive. “On the demands for operating transfers, I have a couple of questions … what is the benefit to the taxpayers?” Jeradette said.
Watkins, the Flood Control District representative, responded that the contract is for $50,000 per year under a five-year agreement that began in 2021. Watkins said the contractor bills the district for time and materials when work is completed. “What we’re doing on that project is grazing and implements of mulch into the soil to increase infiltration so that then that philosophy can be used by residents throughout the county,” Watkins said. “If you increase the infiltration in the soil, you decrease flooding. So at the end of the five years we will have the documentation that, yes, this system will work in Cochise County to help reduce flooding on individuals’ properties.”
Board discussion on the item was brief. A motion to approve consent agenda items 1 and 2 was made and seconded; the board recorded a unanimous vote in favor. The meeting record shows the vote tally as three in favor, zero opposed.
The meeting opened with the board noting remote-access procedures pursuant to ARS 38-431.02(H). No further budget or funding-source details for the grazing demonstration were provided during the flood control segment, and no amendments or follow-up assignments were made on the record for this item.
The Flood Control District portion of the meeting adjourned after the vote and the board proceeded to the next scheduled district meeting.
