The service area of the CRCD includes all of Santa Barbara County, including the Channel Islands, those parts of San Luis Obispo County that are within Santa Maria and Cuyama Valleys and a small portion of southwestern Kern County.

The collective area is 1,941,700 acres, 1,775,360 acres of which are in Santa Barbara County, 157,380 acres in San Luis Obispo County, and 8,960 acres in Kern County.