09/02/2025
Why goats are great!
“What kind of goat sorcery is this?!”
– Laszlo Cravensworth
A goat! Well… hundreds of them, technically.
Earlier this summer, we welcomed a massive herd of goats (we're calling them the Chew Crew) to Willow Creek Dam to remove vegetation on and around the structure and its reservoir.
Clearing the vegetation from this dam regularly is an important part of maintenance. Plants, weeds, shrubs, and whatnot can cause physical damage and, if left unchecked for too long, grow root systems that could cause water seepage or even harm the dam's structural integrity. Vegetation also creates visibility and access issues that could complicate routine or emergency safety inspections.
So... why is it done by goats? A few reasons:
(1) Using goats is safer than using people. People would have to climb the dam, which is dangerous. These goats (we’re also calling them the Botanical Engineers) just walk right up the front of the dam like it's nothing because they are not impacted by gravity or physics, which is pretty sick.
(2) Goats kill around 95% of the seeds they eat, meaning they aren't just replanting new vegetation as they move around the structure leaving their little poos all over the place.
(3) Using goats (you can call these ones the Bleat Squad) is more cost-effective and environmentally friendly, and it's also significantly cuter than other alternatives.
We schedule goats (whom we sometimes refer to as the Munch Bunch) to clear vegetation at Willow Creek typically once a year or more often to ensure the safety of the structure.
This year, we had them on site from early June to mid-August.
