1. science
2. weather
3. meteorological disaster
4. flood

JOURNAL
Restoration at Panorama Vista Preserve Takes Off
By
Trevor Meadows,
Restoration Biologist
&
Julie Rentner,
Director of Special Projects
E
cological restoration is not a
large industry, but it is (oddly)
growing. No other industry must
envision an unknown project outcome
(although projects sometimes do end up
looking like something we once knew), convince the funders to invest (often large sums
of cash up front), and then adapt to whatever Mother Nature has to offer with little
hope of turning a profit – or none, in the case of nonprofits like River Partners. Did we
mention that restoration success is often judged by the actions of wildlife - notoriously
unpredictable and often not well understood? One reason for the dearth of large-scale
restoration practitioners is this incredible diversity of obstacles that any one project
may face. Whether it is the weather, the wildlife, or the floods and fires that will not
cooperate, ecological restoration is a game of rolling with it and sticking to the project,
even when the odds seem overwhelming. But the rewards are very satisfying – recovering
beautiful vistas, wildlife populations, environmental quality, and outdoor experiences.
River Partners learned a long time ago that it is through partnerships that such positive
outcomes are attained, and often the most successful partnerships are unlikely, and
forged from adversity.
This year, River Partners and the Kern River Corridor Endowment are delighted
to see the reward after several grueling years of fundraising, planning, negotiations,
and contracting for the Panorama Vista Preserve in Bakersfield, CA. In late 2014, the
team kicked off the preparation and planting of the largest block of restoration yet –
129 acres located on both the north and south sides of the Kern River. With funding
provided by the California River Parkways Program, California Wildlife Conservation
Board, Central Valley Project Improvement Act Habitat Restoration Program, National
Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Partners for Fish and Wildlife, Pacific Gas and Electric,
and Chevron, this project has leveraged an economy of scale. With acreage of this size,
restoration crews are able to effectively prepare the site, plant tens of thousands of
Continued on page 3
Top photo: Thousands of native plants were delivered to
the project site from the RECON Native Plants nursery.
Above: River Partners received a generous award from
Pacific Gas & Electric in October 2014 to help fund
restoration efforts at the Preserve.
Winter 2015 • Volume 12, Issue 1
Inside:
Letter from the Board Chair:
Abbott Lake Restoration
............................................Page 2
CA Passed a New Water Bond...
So What?............................ Page 4
Native Plant Nurseries and
River Partners - A Winning Team
............................................Page 5
Feather River Riparian Habitat
Restoration.........................Page 6
Oroville Wildlife Area Flood
Stage Reduction.................Page 7
River Partner JOURNAL • Page 1
Message from
the Board Chair
[email protected]
www.riverpartners.org
The Journal is published by River Partners, a
501(c)(3) not-for-profit public benefit corporation.
Our mission is to create wildlife habitat for the
benefit of people and the environment.
Unless otherwise specified, all photographs were taken
by River Partners staff.
Board of Directors
Kara Varian, Baker, KVB, Inc.
Kathy Barrett, SynMedia
John Carlon, Sierra Cascade Blueberry Farm
Ron Ginochio, Ginochio Farms
Ken Grossman, Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Allen Hackett, Hackett Farming
Mark Kimmelshue, Associated Rice Marketing
Cooperative
Tom Lando, Lando & Associates
Suellen Rowlison, RN, retired
Irv Schiffman, CSUC, Political Science, emeritus
Monroe Sprague, MD
Staff
Sacramento Valley Staff:
John Carlon, President
David Neubert, VP Business Development
Gerald Dion, Chief Financial Officer
Mona Dagy, Executive Assistant
Deborah McLaughlin, Sr. Accounting Manager
Dr. Andrew Rayburn, Director of Science
Helen Swagerty, Sr. Restoration Biologist
Michael Rogner, Associate Restoration Biologist
Ruben Reynoso, Jr., Restoration Field Manager
Andy Alexander, Grant & Contract Intern
Eligio Hernandez, Field Technician
Francisco Jauregui, Field Technician
Jared Hicks, Field Technician
Ricardo Navarro, Field Technician
Tara Porter, Field Technician
Ben Baker, Admin Field Technician
San Joaquin Valley Staff:
Julie Rentner, Director of Special Projects
Heyo Tjarks, Restoration Ecologist
Stephen Sheppard, Director of Operations
Trevor Meadows, Restoration Biologist
Jeff Holt, Restoration Biologist
Michelle Andreetta, Biological Technician
Stuart Mattos, Restoration Field Manager
Frank Reynoso, Restoration Field Manager
Miranda Lamb, Staff Accountant
Feliciano Degante, Field Technician
Southern California Staff:
Bill Jensen, Restoration Field Manager
Journal Editor: Dr. Andrew Rayburn
Journal Design & Layout: Tempra Board
Page 2 • River Partners JOURNAL
Page 2 • River Partner JOURNAL
By Irv Schiffman
Abbott Lake Restoration
Moving Ahead
I
n July of 2014, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board issued an
encroachment permit to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife
(CDFW) enabling River Partners to begin work on the Abbott Lake Unit of
the Feather River Wildlife Area. The effort to obtain the permit took four and
one-half years of negotiations that, to a great extent, revolved around the question
of the effect that restored vegetation in floodways has on floodwater conveyance
and flood safety.
Located approximately seven miles south of Yuba City in the Sacramento
Valley, the 439-acre Abbott Lake site has been fallow for 25 years. Through a
grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board, River Partners will actively
restore 150 acres and help enhance the remnant habitat by controlling invasive
plants. Since this unit belongs to the CDFW, the project will also benefit public
recreation and access to the Feather River once restoration is completed.
The notion that floodway vegetation is detrimental to flood safety is familiar
to the planners and scientists at River Partners and is taken very seriously by
them. The long-standing perception has been that floodway vegetation slows
down floodwater, raising water levels and potentially jeopardizing levees, bridges,
and other infrastructure. However, River Partners believes that native riparian
vegetation can be designed to have minimal impact on floodwater conveyance
and flood safety. River Partners planting designs include hydraulic modeling
that enables River Partners to target where native vegetation can be placed on
floodplains to achieve desired outcomes.
For the Abbott Lake restoration project, River Partners hired the engineering
firm MBK to conduct the hydraulic analysis of the proposed planting design.
Senior Restoration Biologist Helen Swagerty, who is supervising the project,
explained that “thanks to MBK’s multiple evaluations and feedback, we’ve
carefully adjusted the restoration design—including types of plants, their locations,
and densities—so that there specifically won’t be a ‘clogging’ effect if there is a
flood. MBK’s modeling of the project’s impact in a flood event has shown that
restoration will not burden the flood protection system, and could potentially
reduce water velocity adjacent to the levee.”
More than 90% of the historic riparian habitat in California’s Great Central
Valley has been lost, and most of the remaining 5 - 10% is in highly degraded
condition. The riparian habitat that remains along the Feather River provides
critical habitat for numerous wildlife species, including many waterfowl,
neotropical migratory songbirds, and special-status species such as Swainson’s
hawk and the valley elderberry longhorn beetle. The Abbott Lake project will
create additional high-quality riparian habitat, linking fragmented patches of
remnant habitat and improving conditions for many wildlife species along the
Feather River corridor.
JOURNAL printed on recycled paper.
Restoration at Panorama Vista Preserve
Continued from page 1
that location were not owned
native trees and shrubs, manage a complex and managed by PG&E (as
was previously thought), but
drip irrigation system, and perform weed
were private lines installed
control using tractors instead of backand managed by Chevron.
breaking hand labor.
Understandably, Chevron
Arriving on site from their comfy
shared our concern about
nursery home over two months ahead
vandalism and requested that
of schedule, the native plants for the
we install a beefed up security
project had acclimated to the Bakersfield
gate around the control panel.
climate nicely while restoration crews and
While the re-establishment of
volunteers watered and cared for them
daily. The planting was initiated at a public power was negotiated, we had
event in mid-October 2014 celebrating the to run the irrigation system
with a generator. The evening
second contribution to the project from
Volunteers donated time and energy to help plant native trees and shrubs
of the very first day with the
PG&E. Advertised through social media
generator, the wire thieves
and the usual Kern County conservation
Grande”. Having sat on a waitlist for
paid us a visit. As a result, we fast-tracked
circles, this event garnered participation
some time, the neighbors had a wellthe construction of a security cage that
from 24 volunteers, 9 Conservation
driller scheduled to arrive within the
would enclose both
Corpsmembers, as
Panorama
Vista
Preserve
month, to develop a well that would
the control panel and
well as the attention
restoration by the numbers: the generator. A week
likely yield much more water than was
of the Bakersfield
required by the Ranch. We asked if there
later, the thieves had
Californian
• 129 acres
was a partnership opportunity and were
us again and we were
newspaper and
• ~25,000 native plants
delighted to find that this was the solution
forced to rethink the
the office of Kern
•
$2.7
million
in
funding
for which we were waiting! A few months
cage structure. Poured
County Supervisor
• 50 daily visitors
later, after a successful drill, water was
concrete, expanded
Mike Maggard.
• 19 species of native trees metal, and a lot of
secured for the entire project.
Plants installed
and shrubs
January 2015 saw the completion
welding finally yielded
include native
of the large-scale plantings. In total,
a design that appears
species that once
• 6 listed wildlife species
approximately 25,000 native plants were
to be theft-proof, at
carpeted the Kern
• 1 endangered cactus
least for now. Chevron installed, providing jobs to over 20
River floodplain
Conservation Corpmembers as well as
continues to work generously and
such as Fremont’s cottonwood, western
endless opportunities for area students
collaboratively with us to provide reliable
sycamore, arroyo willow, black willow,
and residents to engage with their local
power for the project.
buttonbush, bladderpod, and arrowweed.
environments. The plants will be cared for
With that obstacle under our belts,
Mother Nature has been favorable so far,
(irrigated and kept relatively weed-free) for
providing generous waterings in December it was time to turn to the well-drilling
three growing seasons, then will be turned
required for the other half of the project.
and January in the form of much-needed
loose to fend for themselves.
With the California drought worsening,
rain. Nefarious people, however, have not
Whatever obstacles are thrown
well drilling became the new gold rush
been so generous…
at the project next, we have no doubt
in California. In late 2014, well drillers
The project started with the
the partnerships forged amongst River
in the San Joaquin Valley were reporting
installation of an irrigation takeout from
Partners, the Kern River Corridor
record waitlists (some topping two years)
a City of Bakersfield canal. The City
Endowment, Chevron, City of Bakersfield,
and record prices for their services. If
was kind enough to grant permission to
Rancho Not-So-Grande, the project
the restoration project would require
use some of its water to establish the
funders, and the countless volunteers
groundwater, we would be waiting a
plants, recognizing that the project will
will overcome them, creating a lasting
long time to get our hands on it, and
improve groundwater recharge for the
habitat improvement benefiting people
it would have potentially exceeded the
City and will benefit the larger Kern River
and the environment along the Kern River
budget. Enter the generous neighbors of
Parkway for decades to come. No sooner
Parkway.
Panorama Vista Preserve and equestrian
did we get the takeout installed did we
enthusiasts of the “Rancho Not-Sodiscover that the power lines running to
River Partners JOURNAL • Page 3
California Passed a New Water Bond...
So What? By Julie Rentner, Director of Special Projects
O
n November 4, 2014 more
than 67% of voters (nearly 5
million Californians) voted to
approve the Water Quality, Supply, and
Infrastructure Improvement Act of 2014
(Proposition 1). The Act authorized $7.54
billion in general obligation bond funds
to support water supply, conservation,
and quality improvement projects. Such
“water bonds” are not easily approved by
voters and mean quite a lot to the State.
Between 1996 and 2006, voters approved
over $11 billion to support similar work.
You can check on the outcomes of these
expenditures at the Bond Accountability
website http://bondaccountability.
resources.ca.gov
While the sheer magnitude of the
funding is staggering, it is important to
remember that the benefit provided to
taxpayers varies greatly depending on the
details about how it is spent. Using these
bond funds awarded through competitive
grant programs, River Partners has
acquired and restored thousands of
acres of floodplain habitat lands along
the edges of California’s largest rivers.
We have made great strides towards the
recovery of sensitive wildlife – like the
valley elderberry longhorn beetle, riparian
brush rabbit, and least Bell’s vireo. We
have leveraged state funding to attract
federal dollars to California to serve as
matching funds, broadening the impact of
the state’s investment. In addition, perhaps
most importantly, we have delivered over
$60 million to the communities in which
we work to provide jobs to area residents,
lasting improvements to the environment,
and outdoor recreation opportunities.
The historic passage of Proposition
1 means even greater outcomes for the
environment in the coming years, and
greater hope for recovery for several
riparian-dependent wildlife species on
the brink of extinction. Californians
deserve to see the State spend these
funds as conscientiously as possible,
yielding the greatest possible benefits for
Page 4 • River Partners JOURNAL
the smallest price. Thanks to hard work
from a variety of conservation interests,
and fueled by the visibility of some of
our demonstration projects (such as the
Dos Rios Ranch Project and the Riparian
Sanctuary Project), we believe a major
stride towards such accountability was
provided in the language of the new water
bond: the words “Multi-benefit Projects”
were included specifically to describe the
types of projects that will be eligible for
$1.495 billion of the bond.
For over fifteen years, River Partners
has been working to develop conservation
projects that provide multiple benefits
to a variety of interests. We have
developed projects that simultaneously
provide wildlife habitat enhancement and
improved flood protection, water supply
reliability, recreation opportunities, and
even transportation improvements. We do
this difficult work of project integration
for many reasons – to attract a variety of
funders, to ease the permitting process, to
engage multiple interest groups, etc. We
have also found it to be a very effective
way to ensure project success. It is really
quite simple: the more folks who benefit
from your project, the more likely it is
that your project will be successful! With
the passage of Proposition 1 and the
integrated “multi-benefit” language, the
legislature and the voters have recognized
that our approach works. The bond
language clearly identifies that future
public expenditures must follow our
model, and we are delighted to have the
opportunity to implement even more of
Continued on next page
Multi-benefit projects are designed to reduce flood risk and enhance fish and wildlife habitat by allowing rivers and floodplains
to function more naturally. These projects create additional public benefits such as protecting farms and ranches, improving water
quality, increasing groundwater recharge, and providing public recreation opportunities, or any combination thereof.
–www.multibenefitproject.org (Chart courtesy of the California Natural Resources Agency)
Native Plant Nurseries and River Partners –
a Winning Team
By Michael Rogner,
Associate Restoration Biologist
The core of our business will always
be riparian restoration using native plants.
In our 16 years we have planted over one
and a half million trees and shrubs, as
well as several tons of native grass and
forb seed. In 2014 alone, we planted over
65,000 native woody plants. To accomplish
this impressive feat, we need great
partnerships with native plant nurseries.
These nurseries not only need to be able
to deliver tens of thousands of plants on
time and within specifications, but they
also have to understand the genetic and
watershed requirements of an organization
whose work spans the entire state of
CA Water
Bond
Continued from previous page
these integrated projects, stretching
the bond funds as far as they can go.
You may have read about other
parts of the new water bond – the
$725 million tagged for water recycling
and water treatment technology
projects, the $900 million dedicated
to groundwater quality in areas reliant
upon groundwater for drinking,
or even the $2.7 billion earmarked
for new storage projects, dams
and reservoirs. Considering how
interconnected our water systems are,
we can only hope that the program
managers in charge of spending these
public funds will also prioritize their
use for projects that benefit as many
Californians as possible – hopefully
they will also prioritize multi-benefit
projects.
To learn more about multibenefit projects in the Central Valley,
please check out: http://www.
multibenefitproject.org.
California and beyond.
We are lucky that we
have developed longstanding relationships
with native plant
nurseries that help us
achieve our goal of
restoring habitat for
the benefit of wildlife
and people.
Since our
inception, we
have worked with
Floral Native
Native plants being grown out at Sierra Horticulture Services.
Nursery (http://
floralnativenursery.com) located in
200 acres using many plant species unique
Chico. When we began work on the
to the area. Together these three nurseries
San Joaquin National Wildlife Refuge in
maintain a rolling stock
of natives that sometime
approaches 100,000
plants, so that we are
ready to implement
shovel-ready projects to
meet our clients’ needs.
Part of what makes
River Partners unique is
our ability to successfully
plan and implement
large-scale restoration
projects – an achievement
that requires ready access
to a high volume of
native plants.
The native plant
nursery business
all starts with seed
Native plants being grown out at Floral Native Nursery.
collection. Some seed
is collected by River
Partners’ hardworking biologists and
the early 2000s, we expanded to Sierra
field staff, and some by our nurseries, but
Horticulture Services, located in Gridley,
to help accommodate our increased needs. we need hundreds of pounds each year
from genetic material found in multiple
When we ventured into San Diego in the
watersheds throughout the state. It is
late 2000s, one of our first goals was to
challenging to predict exactly when native
figure out which nursery could deliver
plant seeds will be ready to collect since
high quality plants for our projects. We
so much depends on weather and other
have now developed a partnership with
factors, so we pay close attention to field
RECON Native Plants, Inc. in San Diego
(http://www.reconnativeplants.com), a
nursery that has helped us restore over
Continued on page 7
River Partners JOURNAL • Page 5
Feather River Riparian
Habitat Restoration
Project Kick-off
By David Neubert, VP Business Development &
Helen Swagerty, Sr. Restoration Biologist
I
advance of the actual work
n 2014, the the California
being done. This has the
Department of Water Resources
potential to streamline the
(DWR) FloodSAFE Environmental
mitigation process and help
Stewardship and Statewide Resources
reduce costs in the long run.
Office (FESSRO) awarded Three Rivers
We are excited to be part
Levee Improvement Authority (TRLIA)
of this new approach to the
$4.4 million to develop 500 acres of
regulatory process.”
perennial grasslands, mixed riparian
In addition to providing
forest, riparian scrub and valley oak
open space for public
woodland and to establish a mechanism
recreation and mitigation
to provide advance credits to offset future
compensatory mitigation requirements for opportunities, the project
will create critical habitat for
impacts associated with the construction
a number of threatened and
and maintenance activities related to the
endangered species, including
flood control system. In August 2014,
Swainson’s hawk, which has
River Partners signed a $2.9 million
one of the longest roundcontract with TRLIA to design and
restore 500 acres of riparian habitat within trip migrations of any raptor
found in the Americas. When
the Feather River Setback Area (a new
in California, this hawk prefers
floodway created when the Feather River
was set back a half mile on a 7 mile reach), to hunt small rodents and other Top photo: Swainson’s hawk (Buteo swainsoni). Bottom photo: Yellow-billed
cuckoo (Coccyzus americanus). Courtesy of Wikipedia.
prey in fields and grasslands,
just south of Marysville, CA. The project
and the 200 acres of native
is adjacent and easily linked to other State
grassland created in this project will
and private conservation and recreational
Sacramento Valley has only approximately
provide significant habitat for Swainson’s
areas that are located along a section of
25 breeding pairs left. The yellow-billed
hawks that return from Argentina each
the Feather River that which currently
cuckoo population has been decimated
spring to nest in the
provides over 3,000
by the loss of riparian forests in the
Central Valley of
acres of wildlife
Central Valley. This bird has a large
...the project will create
California.
habitat.
territory, which ranges from 20-100 acres
critical habitat for a
The
300
acres
Helen Swagerty,
of cottonwood forest. With 95 % of the
number of threatened
of riparian forest to
Senior Biologist with
riparian habitat forest lost in the State,
and endangered species,
be planted as part of
River Partners, notes
the yellow-billed cuckoo has slipped into
including
Swainson’s
this project will create
that “We have worked
near extinction. The Feather River Project
hawk, which has one of
potential habitat for
with the Three Rivers
will make a small contribution to bringing
the longest round-trip
the many other species,
Levee Improvement
back habitat for this bird, and provide an
migrations of any raptor
including the yellowAuthority for the
opportunity for breeding pairs to utilize
billed cuckoo. The
past ten years, and
the new habitat created by River Partners,
found in the Americas.
population
of
this
this partnership has
DWR and the Three Rivers Levee
endangered species
resulted in over 700 acres of habitat
Improvement Authority.
is approaching a tipping point where
restoration. The new project is unique in
extinction is a very strong possibility.
that its goal is to allow DWR to mitigate
Recent bird surveys estimated that the
levee repair and maintenance work in
Page 6 • River Partners JOURNAL
Oroville Wildlife Area Flood Stage Reduction
Project
By Helen Swagerty,
Senior Restoration Ecologist
T
he Oroville Wildlife Area Flood
Stage Reduction (OWA FSR)
Project, sponsored by Sutter
Butte Flood Control Agency (SBFCA),
is part of SBFCA’s goal of improving
flood protection along the Feather River
corridor. The OWA FSR project consists
of weir improvements and ecosystem
restoration on Unit D of the Oroville
Wildlife Area, near the Thermalito
Afterbay Outlet. The objective is to
improve the connectivity of the Feather
The project lies across from the Thermalito Afterbay Outlet,
a popular fishing spot
River to its historic floodway, protect flood
relief structures and reduce peak stages
within the main channel.
SBFCA retained an engineering firm,
Peterson Brustad, Inc., and River Partners
to develop this project. Our role is to
design the multi-benefit components,
which include ecosystem restoration and
recreation amenities, and to prepare a
restoration master plan that describes how
these elements could be
implemented through
phases.
Currently, Unit
D of the Oroville
Wildlife Area is a highly
disturbed floodplain
that includes extensive,
isolated ridges and
Invasive water primrose in existing channels and ponds
piles of rock left
by gold dredging
and drainage canals created during the
time the site served as a borrow area
for the construction of Oroville Dam.
One of the habitat restoration design
objectives is to improve habitat for
native fish species including Chinook
Continued from page 5
salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and
conditions when we collect seed. Our
steelhead trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss).
goal is to collect as much viable seed as
Because there are design constraints due
we can, but we always leave some behind
to temperature and flow requirements
so that new plants can grow. We also
in the Feather River associated with
collect seed from as many individual
Oroville Dam FERC (Federal Energy
plants as possible in order to maximize
Regulatory Commission) relicensing
the genetic variation we can incorporate
efforts, we have taken a collaborative
into our restoration projects.
and interdisciplinary approach. We
Once the seed is collected, the
have been working with the California
nurseries take over: they germinate the
Department of Water Resources (DWR),
seeds based on the specific conditions
the California Department of Fish and
required by the different native plant
Wildlife (CDFW), and researchers from
species. Once the seed germinates,
the University of California Davis on
nursery staff will grow the plants into
project alternatives that aim to balance
one-gallon containers - a process that
these requirements with the desire to
can take more than six months. Then
provide appropriate habitat for aquatic
we will place a call and a few days later,
and terrestrial species, offer recreational
nursery staff will show up anywhere
amenities, and improve flood protection.
in the state with trailer loads of young
We hope that designs to enhance
native plants ready to go into the
drainage channels by removing invasive
ground.
water primrose (Ludwigia hexapetala) and
The wildlife might not know
improvements to the existing upstream
where their habitat is coming from,
and downstream weir structures aid in
but the next time you visit one of our
decreasing potential fish entrapment areas
projects you can imagine that 50-foot
and increasing floodplain connectivity to
tall sycamore, or that patch of native
provide off-channel refugia for native fish.
blackberry, starting as a seed in one of
our partners’ greenhouses.
Native Plant
Nurseries
River Partners JOURNAL • Page 7
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