Could this $36 million Central Valley river restoration project help with California’s droughts?

The San Francisco Chronicle

Julie Rentner, president of River Partners, visits Dos Rios Ranch in Modesto, where a floodplain is being restored. Yalonda M. James / The Chronicle.

Check out this San Francisco Chronicle coverage of River Partners’ historic Dos Rios Ranch Preserve near Modesto.

In 2021, River Partners put the last plant into the ground at Dos Rios Ranch Preserve, our 2,100-acre restoration project at the confluence of the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers near Modesto.

It was the final piece of a $46 million labor of love, the culmination of a nearly decade-long effort that added more than 350,000 native trees and shrubs to the San Joaquin Valley along eight miles of river, and created hundreds of good, green jobs.

The project transformed a former farming operation that was prone to frequent flooding into thriving natural riverside habitat providing a myriad of benefits for wildlife, natural resources, and people. This includes boosting the resiliency of San Joaquin Valley communities against droughts like the one California is currently grappling with. As the largest public-private floodplain restoration project in California history, Dos Rios Ranch serves as a promising model for how the state can harness the power of healthy rivers to ensure a thriving future.

Read the full article.