By Elizabeth Hewitt for Reasons to be Cheerful.
Broadcast version by Suzanne Potter for California News Service reporting for the Solutions Journalism Network-Public News Service Collaboration

On a bright morning in early January near the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers in Central California, John Cain looks out over a small, curved lake. The trees are mostly bare for winter, but Cain, senior director of conservation of the nonprofit organization River Partners, points out that the wild landscape in front of him is buzzing. Bright white egrets swoop lazily down into the water while terns whiz by in the air. A California rose bush clings onto bright red rose hips. The low-lying plain across the water is dense with gray branches of adolescent trees.

For more than four months last year, as California was inundated with a series of major storms, this part of Dos Rios Ranch Preserve, about 20 miles west of Modesto, was submerged under water. That’s exactly what it was designed for. And when the floodwaters recede, Cain says, “It’s just an explosion of life out here.”

Until a little more than a decade ago, this area was productive farmland, used for growing crops like tomatoes, alfalfa, melons and almonds. Now it’s set to be California’s next state park after a restoration project spearheaded by River Partners converted the ranch into rewilded riverside habitat. As climate change has doubled the likelihood of flooding in California, and is projected to increase runoff from storms by as much as 200 to 400 percent, this restored floodplain is proving to be a promising approach.

Not only does the area help buffer downstream communities from flood damage, it also maximizes environmental benefits from high waters. “When we step back from the river, when we give the river more room, flooding actually is a very productive process for the ecosystem,” says Cain. “It recharges groundwater. It filters polluted water. It nourishes riparian forests that support all kinds of wildlife. It’s alive.”  

California’s Central Valley doesn’t get much rain, but the 400-mile-long region is naturally shaped by water. Before human intervention, rivers fluctuated with flow from the towering Sierra Nevada range to the east. But over the last century and a half, rivers have been tamed by dams and constricted by levees as land was converted for agriculture and urban development. Some 95 percent of the region’s native riparian and wetland habitat has been lost.

Even as rivers have been engineered with the aim of reducing flooding, communities and farmland have remained vulnerable. Bill Lyons, whose family owned Dos Rios Ranch for about 25 years, says that it was good farmland. But he recalls three times when the ranch was impacted by major flooding, resulting in loss of crops, erosion damage, and debris scattered across farmland.

Lyons’ family — which has been farming for four generations and has a century of history in this region — has long been committed to stewardship of the land. They are concerned with supporting the health of the environment, he says. So the family was interested when River Partners approached them about buying Dos Rios Ranch.

“We looked at it from a point of view that probably its highest and best use would be to be returned to a natural state,” Lyons says.

In 2012, River Partners purchased the property and began restoration work along eight miles of river. Berms that had been built to protect farmland from high water were removed. To date, more than 350,000 trees and shrubs have been planted. River Partners uses existing irrigation infrastructure on former farmland to help young vegetation endure hot dry summers as it gets established. About 1,600 acres have been rewilded so far, and restoration work is ongoing on another 500 acres on an adjacent former farm.

Pausing on a rough single-track road that runs atop higher ground through the preserve, Cain points out a long, shrubbery-covered berm that gently slopes down to the floodplain about three yards below the road. It’s a ramp designed for riparian brush rabbits, an endangered species that has has moved in to Dos Rios. The slope allows them to escape to higher ground when the area floods. To the right of the ramp, birds flit between bare branches of densely planted trees. To the left, a low-lying grassy meadow is primed to take on high water. When the San Joaquin River overflows onto the field, it offers an abundant feast of zooplankton and tiny bugs for juvenile salmon, which studies show grow faster on floodplains than in the river. Instead of aiming to benefit any single species, the restoration was geared towards creating a varied ecosystem.

“It’s a more resilient landscape that supports a greater diversity of life,” Cain says. The preserve hosts migratory Aleutian cackling geese, a formerly endangered species that’s on the rebound. Beavers have been spotted, as well as deer, which hadn’t been seen in this area for about 60 years, according to River Partners.

Over the last decade, the restored floodplain quickly showed signs of success in supporting wildlife. And in 2023, the area got a chance to show how it performed in heavy flooding.

Lilia Lomeli-Gil walks by piles of branches and brush a few feet away from the backyard fences of houses on the edge of the small town of Grayson, across the river from Dos Rios Ranch Preserve. The debris was left by high water last winter, she explains, as the river overflowed near this small community, home to many farmworkers.

The record-breaking precipitation that hit California last year was devastating for some communities. Thousands of people were evacuated when a levee broke along the Pajaro River, 50 miles southwest of Grayson.

In Grayson, residents watched the rising river warily. A few families evacuated out of precaution, according to Lomeli-Gil, co-founder of the Grayson United Community Center. The water came up within a couple feet of several houses, she says, but the town didn’t sustain major damage. She attributes that to the floodplain restoration work.

“I can only imagine if … River Partners had not opened up the levees,” she says. She believes giving the water room to spread out helped the town avoid flood damage. “I think that made a difference.”

Awareness has been growing that California’s old flood management approach of confining rivers has not been working, according to Brian Johnson, a board member of the Central Valley Flood Protection Board. But during the winter and spring of 2023, the Dos Rios project proved that floodplain restoration is an effective flood control approach. “You need to give the water a safe place to go,” he says, “or it’ll go to a place that’s not safe.”

Across the Central Valley, similar projects are in development, he says. Cost is a limitation — the board’s recommended flood protection measures, including projects like Dos Rios, have an estimated price tag of $25 to $30 billion. But those measures could avoid around $1 trillion damage from major flooding. The permitting process can also be slow and a hurdle. But Johnson says there’s a lot of opportunity to develop similar floodplain habitat restoration projects across the valley.

“In order for it to work at a system-wide scale, we want to be doing it in a bunch of different places,” Johnson says.

Floodplain restoration can also help California weather drought, which is predicted to become more intense with climate change, according to Cain. Not only does growing native vegetation require less water than agriculture, when floodwaters spread across the land, the water seeps down into the groundwater, recharging overdrawn aquifers.

For all its benefits, this type of floodplain restoration isn’t appropriate everywhere, according to Joshua Viers, a watershed expert at University of California, Merced. Dos Rios is well-suited because the confluence of the two rivers makes for dynamic conditions that are particularly good for habitat restoration. In other parts of this heavily agricultural region, other approaches may be more appropriate, he says. Certain crops, like grape vines, can handle some flooding, which also benefits groundwater stores. Some types of farming can be incorporated into habitat restoration; rice fields can support salmon. According to Viers, using a range of different approaches can help manage flooding and support ecosystems along California rivers.

“You can’t do all things in all places,” Viers says. “If you can string these together, you can have mutually reinforcing benefits.”

There are also social benefits to habitat restoration: Through the Grayson United Community Center, Lomeli-Gil has been working to engage Grayson residents with Dos Rios and surrounding restored natural areas. Several locals have gotten jobs with River Partners planting vegetation. And now, California State Parks is aiming to open the new state park to the public later this year.

"It's in our backyard, so how blessed will we be," Lomeli-Gil says.

As other floodplain projects are in development across California, Dos Rios is still expanding.

Cain walks along furrows on a plowed field on former farmland adjacent to Dos Rios. Instead of crops, this plot will soon be planted with young native trees and shrubs. Cain checks little white labels on sticks that mark where each new plant will go: a Modesto ash, box elder, and, his favorite, elderberry.

Cain and his colleagues at River Partners have set a long-term goal of restoring 100,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley. That would restore about 10 percent of the wetlands that used to be in this area.

On the other side of the bare field, two large wonky Vs of Aleutian cackling geese fly by. Even though they are hard to see from such a distance, their characteristic honks echo across the field.


Elizabeth Hewitt wrote this article for Reasons to be Cheerful.


get more stories like this via email

Members of the Buffalo River Watershed Alliance are supporting two moratoriums on concentrated animal feeding operations to be voted on today by the Arkansas Administrative Rules subcommittee of the Arkansas Legislative Council.

Concentrated animal feeding operations are large agriculture facilities which keep animals confined in small spaces.

Gordon Watkins, president of the alliance, said Regulations 5 and 6 include a moratorium on swine Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations in the watershed, but Regulation 5 does not include adequate public notification requirements. He pointed out the regulation only requires a request for a permit be posted on the Department of Agriculture website.

"If someone wants to put a 10,000-animal hog-confinement facility next door to you, you'd probably like to know about that," Watkins contended. "Secondly, in order to oppose a permit -- legally -- it's a 30-day comment period, and unless you submit comments on it, you do not have standing to legally challenge a permit."

He acknowledged Regulation 6 has stronger notification requirements which include notifying nearby landowners, publishing the permit request in the local newspaper and contacting school superintendents within a 10-mile radius of the proposed facility.

The last concentrated animal feeding operation allowed near the Buffalo National River, C and H Swine, was shut down in 2019. Watkins added he is a farmer but feels the area needs to be protected.

"It's the first National River ever created in the country. It's also a state icon," Watkins stressed. "If you look at any of the literature, put out by the department of tourism to promote the state, you'll see images from the Buffalo National River. It's an economic engine to some of the poorest counties in the state."

It was discovered in 2018 the C and H swine operation contaminated the water quality in Big Creek and the Buffalo River. Today's meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m.


get more stories like this via email

CORRECTION: In the second paragraph, the term "mature forests" was replaced with language to more accurately describe the lands connected to the provided stastic. (1:53 p.m. CST, Oct. 30, 2024)

Did you check out fall colors in Wisconsin this month and wonder how old the trees are? There is a chance they are not in what's known as an "old-growth forest."

Regional voices are weighing in on a federal plan to expand these lands, to tap into their benefits. The U.S. Forest Service has gathered public input on a proposed National Old Growth Amendment, with a priority to conserve and restore these characteristics on federal lands. Only 17% of the acres within federally managed forest land falls under the category.

Jeff Niese, a Wisconsin-based forestry consultant, supports expanding the acreage, describing it as an underrepresented landscape in the Badger State.

"Foresters have a long-range perspective on managing ecosystems, not just trees," Niese explained. "We have a better concept of what we started with if we have saved all the pieces in some of our forest ecosystems and types."

Such pieces can include standing dead trees and multilayered canopies. Conservation advocates said they set the tone for more biological diversity and carbon sequestration. The amendment is expected to emphasize local solutions and Niese hopes the final plan sets aside some parcels of land where nature is in charge of the management, aside from forest supervisors. He cautioned political and economic factors can complicate efforts.

The initiative also strives to be more inclusive of tribal leaders.

Jason Schlender, executive administrator of the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission, sees promise in having a bigger voice.

"If it's to support wild rice restoration, or if it's to assist with deer populations, those are things that we can do based on research and based on knowledge transferred to us from an Indigenous perspective," Schlender emphasized.

As The Pew Charitable Trusts has pointed out, Schlender stressed climate change poses a threat to old-growth forests. Pew officials say among other things, the final plan should articulate a framework for establishing future generations of old-growth forests. Even in places where logging is no longer a primary threat, skeptics suggest the Forest Service has not placed enough scrutiny on the timber industry.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


get more stories like this via email

As Election Day approaches, Oregonians and people around the country can see how their members of Congress voted on issues related to national parks.

The National Parks Action Fund's 2024 Congressional Scorecard grades members based on votes, on things like an amendment to cut park funding by 13%.

Don Barry was assistant secretary of Fish, Wildlife, and Parks in the Interior Department under President Bill Clinton, and lives in southern Oregon.

He said the state has an abundance of public lands that are important to residents, and thinks cutting the park service by 13% would be devastating.

"People move to Oregon now not to cut timber and make two-by-fours," said Barry. "They move to Oregon because of the beauty of the natural resources that are here. And so, how Congress votes on the funding for the federal land-managing agencies - the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service - matters."

Barry said unfortunately his member of Congress, Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ontario, received a failing grade on the scorecard.

Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, R-Happy Valley, received a 'C.' The rest of state's representatives - all Democrats - received 'A's.'

House Republicans proposed national parks cuts in government spending negotiations to decrease the national debt.

Kristen Brengel, executive director of National Parks Action, said people across the country love visiting national parks - and so, it matters what happens to them in Congress.

"If you want to judge how a member of Congress has voted on national parks," said Brengel, "it's sort of similar to making sure the values of this member of Congress line up with your own and your family's."

The scorecard grades were based on other votes as well, including oil and gas development around certain national parks and weakening protections under the Endangered Species Act.