September 26, 2026By Ian James
With a potentially historic El Niño increasing the odds of big storms this fall and winter, California is on alert for possible flooding. But as it delivers this flooding, it will also bring an upside: a water bonanza. What to do with all this water, then? One powerful strategy is to capture it. With River Partners focusing on restoring historic floodplains, while we create spaces for native habitat for wildlife to return to, we are also allowing heavy rain to fill the floodplains, where it will sit, sometimes for months at a time, and seep into the ground to recharge aquifers. And this type of solution, River Partners President Julie Rentner said, is “by far the single most important step California can take to capture water during big storms.”
“This El Niño year is a huge opportunity for our water system. We know that we can capture huge volumes of that water.”
~ River Partners President Julie Rentner
Read more at Los Angeles Times
Photo courtesy of Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times
