In the Spotlight

New Agricultural Conservation Easement -- In March 2024, the City purchased a new agricultural conservation easement on 120 acres of farmland located about a half-mile from the City limits, northeast of the Mace Boulevard curve, as a permanent preserve for farmland and open space. The property is currently planted with almond trees. The City co-owns this $960,000 agricultural conservation easement with the Yolo Land Trust that will monitor the easement in perpetuity on behalf of the City. The City and the Yolo Land Trust were both interested in protecting this land because of its proximity to the City limits, its location near other protected farmland and its prime agricultural soils. A quarter of the purchase price was paid with funds from the City’s special open space protection parcel tax (Measure O) and open space development impact fees. The remainder was paid with grant funds from the State of California. 

New Open Space Interactive Map. -- The new open space interactive map is now available! To access this new map, just click on the following link: open space interactive map. The interactive map includes updated and enhanced information about all the City's open space areas, conservation easements, and other publicly owned lands within the 100,000-acre Davis Planning Area. After you open the map, just click on the various open space areas to read site summaries, what you can do at each open space area, and what the area's rules and regulations are. You can also see photos of each open space area and find directions.  

New Habitat Restoration/Public Access Project. -- The City is working with UC Davis to develop a draft conceptual plan for a possible habitat enhancement project on a 32-acre parcel of land owned by the Regents of the University of California along the South Fork of Putah Creek near Old Davis Road.  The property was formerly used by the California Department of Transportation as a source for fill soil for the adjacent freeway overcrossing so it is about 10-12 feet lower than surrounding land.  The University bought the property in the late 1990s from a private property owner who was farming the land in row crops, despite the land’s lowered elevation.  The existing elevation is too high for riparian vegetation to establish and too low for oak woodland to establish because the site floods when Monticello dam spills.  As a result, the land hosts invasive grasses and broadleaf weeds, as well as eucalyptus trees.  If the site were lowered an additional few feet, it could be restored to emergent wetland habitat with better riparian habitat and public access. For more information about this project and how to provide input, please visit the project page.

Program Overview

The City’s formal Open Space Program was established in 1990 to implement long-standing policies that called for the protection of the farmlands and habitat areas that surround the community.  Since that time, it has been a national model for open space preservation.  The major goals of the program include (1) securing long-term protection of open space lands around Davis, (2) providing and improving long-term management and monitoring of open spaces the City owns, (3) promoting and supporting the enjoyment of public open space lands, (4) engaging citizens in planning and caring for open space areas, and (5) nurturing productive partnerships with other organizations to achieve the above goals.

To accomplish these goals, the City relies on several tools for open space preservation.  The citizens of Davis also realized that accomplishing these goals would take a stable and reliable funding source.  So, in 2000, Davis voters passed Measure O, an ongoing parcel tax dedicated to open space preservation and maintenance.  The full text of Measure O is located in Article 15.17 (Open Space Protection Tax) of the City’s Municipal Code.  Since then, Measure O funds have enabled the City to make remarkable progress towards achieving its long-term vision for land conservation within the Davis Planning Area, as shown on the map below.

Measure O, which expires in 2030, currently generates about $680,000 a year, money that can be used to maintain the City’s open space areas or leverage land acquisition and restoration grants.  As of 2022, there was approximately $7.3 million in the Measure O reserve account.

Strategic Plan

On March 20, 2018, the City Council approved a Strategic Plan for the City's Open Space Program, which was developed in partnership with the Open Space and Habitat Commission.  This Strategic Plan is part of a set of planning and management documents that will guide program activities through 2030.  It is organized around six subject areas:  (1) Acquisitions, (2) Habitat Restoration and Enhancement, (3) Land and Resource Management, (4) Financial and Program Accountability, (5) Public Access and Recreation, and (6) Public Engagement and Partnerships.  Click on any one of these to learn more about what is happening in these areas!

Thousands of Acres Protected.  Since 1990, the City has been able to permanently protect more than 5,900 acres of land within the Davis Planning Area, which is an amount approximately equal to the footprint of the City of Davis itself.  These acres include agricultural lands, riparian corridors, habitat areas, and land under threat of conversion to urban uses. The City co-owns 21 conservation easements with the Yolo Land Trust and three conservation easements with the Solano Land Trust, as shown on the map above.

Hundreds of Acres Maintained for People and Wildlife.  The City’s Open Space Program actively maintains about 240 acres of open space for the enjoyment of Davis residents and for wildlife species.  These lands include ag buffers, grasslands/uplands habitat, riparian habitat and native plant sites.  The largest is the 110-acre South Fork Preserve.  These lands do not include stormwater conveyance channels and detention basins (i.e., Julie Partansky Wildlife Pond, West Area Pond, Toad Hollow, North Davis Channel), which are maintained by the City’s Public Works Department, or the City’s urban greenbelts and parks, which are maintained by the City’s Parks Department.

Millions of Dollars Leveraged.  Measure O’s greatest value is its leveraging potential.  By itself, Measure O does not generate enough money to purchase significant tracts of land under fee title ownership or easement.  But because it is a steady and reliable source of funds, Measure O gives the City of Davis a competitive advantage when applying for grants.  The City has been able to secure millions in state and federal open space acquisition grants using Measure O dollars as matching funds.  

Not all land that people think of as “open space” meets the definition under the City’s Open Space Program.  Under the Open Space Program, open space means:

“Land that is in a predominantly natural state or altered for natural resources-based uses (i.e., farming) and may include, but is not limited to, riparian habitat, agricultural lands, grassland and upland habitat, wetlands, agricultural buffers, and native plant sites.” 

The definition of “open space” under the City’s Open Space Program does not include parks and greenbelts (managed by City Parks staff), or stormwater conveyance channels and detention basins (managed by City Public Works staff).  The graphic below illustrates what types of land uses are considered “open space” under the City’s Open Space Program:

Types of open space in the City’s Open Space Program

Benefits to the Community

• Helps to create a healthy, livable sustainable community
• Preserves agricultural land for the production of local products
• Preserves natural areas for wildlife habitat, including for native pollinators
• Preserves natural areas for human recreation and educational study
• Preserves community identity by providing separation between urbanized areas
• Provides connections to the land and preserves land for future generations
• Preserves view corridors and scenery
• Provides relief from urbanization

Benefits to Landowners

• Provides peace of mind to those who would like their land to remain as farmland
  or natural areas
• Provides financial incentives, such as income from selling a conservation easement
• Provides an ability to continue farming and leave the land to heirs
• Provides tax advantages, such as property tax advantages, and reductions in
  income taxes, estate taxes, or capital gains taxes
• Provides ecosystem benefits such as crop pollination, groundwater infiltration,
  and flood control

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