Just another California story.
My friends land also had a seasonal creek. A neibor a few properties over had some cattle on his land that was downstream, but on the same creek.
One day he finds a group of people on his land counting cow pies. He's polite and asks what they are doing on his land. I forget what agency they were from. Sorry, this was about ten years ago.
They tell him that the cow pies are poluting the year round stream that the seasonal creek flows into. This is causing fewer salmon to spawn. He's the only one with cattle, so it' his fault.
They had already convicted him of this crime in there minds and were now gathering the evidence by counting cow pies!!!!
He was ordered to remove his cows and clean up the land. He was fined for causing damage to the river and charged for everyones time. I don't know the amounts this came to, or what it cost him in fees to hire a lawyer. I don't know if he had to pay anything, or if he was cleared.
I do know he removed the cows and ended up selling the land. The final outcome is unknown to me. This was all told to me by my friend and is second hand knowledge. I never met this person or saw any of these events.
I only pass on the story because you should be very careful as a land owner in California.
Eddie
