GALAD — Give a Lamb a Drink — California Wild Sheep Foundation

Video still of two men on a split-screen call, one beside a slide titled “Give A Lamb A Drink” showing a bighorn lamb

Such a simple but profound plan. The multi-year vision to add over 100 drinkers across wild sheep habitat in the state, to increase the wild sheep population and in particular survivability in drought years. Thanks to ongoing efforts we now have a backlog of government approved sites ready for drinkers as soon as we have the funds to install them!

Exciting video on CAWSF and GALAD online here now! Check it out!

You can also see and read more on the dedicated GALAD news page.

GALAD Successes

GALAD In Action

A lone desert bighorn sheep stands at the foot of a dark, rocky slope, facing the camera — To Be Seen by More Sheep - See More Sheep

Volunteers in jackets gather around camp tables and parked trucks in a sandy desert wash in low sun — Coming Together as a Team

A mini excavator lowers a tan ribbed water tank into a trench beside two others as two workers guide it — Tanks are Buried, In Part to Protect from Rams Practicing their Head-buts and Breaking Tank

Seen from a hillside, trucks and volunteers beside a large rock-covered rain catchment mat on the desert floor — It is a Big Effort in a Big Desert

A worker in a safety vest throws water across a rain catchment mat weighted down with rocks — Catchment Test

Two rock-shaped drinker housings inside a pipe-rail fence, with desert hills behind — Finished Drinker

A low blue and tan water tank beside a large white storage tank, a metal drinker box in front, people and a jeep behind — Ghost Eagle drinker - COMPLETED!

CA Wild Sheep Foundation Give a Lamb a Drink Work Continues

Our GALAD program is off to a great start in 2022, our first drinker project has been completed. In conjunction with the Society for the Desert Bighorn, the CAWSF has fully funded and helped complete a 3-tank drinker system on the Fort Irwin Army Base in Southern California. We thank SCBS, our volunteers, and the United States Army for the hard work and cooperation in this collaboration.

If you want well targeted impact for your precious conservation dollars you can donate directly to the “Give a Lamb a Drink” foundation (GALAD) program in the store. You can help us double the number of desert bighorns in CA through our efforts to construct 90+ new drinker systems in the Southern CA desert.

GALAD Background

Trail-camera photo of desert bighorn sheep walking up to a rock-shaped drinker below a cliff

A band of bighorn ewes, young sheep and a ram gathered in front of two rock-shaped drinkers

A bighorn sheep stands close to the camera while two others wait beside rock-shaped drinkers behind it

Two bighorn sheep drink from a small square trough at the base of a rock wall while a lamb stands nearby

Trail-camera photo of bighorn ewes and lambs drinking at a trough beside a rock-shaped drinker

A young bighorn lamb stepping across granite rocks

Trail-camera photo of a group of bighorn rams crowding a rocky slope next to two rock-shaped drinkers

Two bighorn rams push head to head in front of two rock-shaped drinkers while another sheep watches from the slope

Two mature bighorn rams with heavy curled horns look toward the camera from a rocky ledge

Trail-camera photo of a single bighorn ram walking downhill toward two rock-shaped drinkers

CA Wild Sheep Foundation Leads The Way To Water for Sheep

Throughout the years from the inception of the California Chapter of the Wild Sheep Foundation (CAWSF), there has been a dedication to improving habitat, specifically by providing water, for wild sheep. It’s no surprise then that over $200,000 by CAWSF in the last six years has been spent on installing ‘drinkers’ on the mountains for sheep and other wildlife. But that’s not enough, as CAWSF VP of Operations Mike Borel shared.

Water is the number one issue limiting our wild sheep populations and our sheep hunting tags. The two go hand-in-hand as the Dept. of Fish and Wildlife has a mandate that relates number of sheep totally estimated to availability for hunting.

“Today’s numbers are well below where we want them to be,” explained Mr. Borel. There is currently an estimated 4,800 desert bighorn sheep in California with 103 drinkers in place averaging 45 sheep per drinker. “What we want to do is add another 90 drinkers, in ideally placed locations. Ninety new drinkers would support an additional 6,750 desert bighorns,” Mr. Borel continued. “That will more than double our total numbers in the state and put us on a level with the state that currently has the most bighorn sheep, Nevada!”

There is a price tag, and it’s a big one. New, more efficient, and less environmentally disruptive drinkers, the Raincatcher Wildlife Water System (RWWS), cost $23,015 each for a total of about $2,000000. In addition, there is 488 man hours required to site and install a RWWS. Much of this man-power will come from our sister organization, the Society for the Conservation of Bighorn Sheep (SCBS). “We have an eager and experienced group of volunteers for these installations but the funding must come from us, the caretakers of bighorn sheep.” Mr. Borel continued “The need is certainly big — but the impact will be HUGE!”

This effort will require $250,000 per year — double CAWSF’s current fundraising. “We plan to pursue all options for funding — donations, matching grants, gofundme.com and more,” said Borel. “$300 will give a lamb a drink and a LIFE.”

Donate to Give a Lamb a Drink, and a Life at the CAWSF website, Facebook page or GoFundMe page.