Ecological Restoration

Originating in the central mountains of California, the Carmel River flows northwest through redwoods and evergreens, shrubby woodlands, and coastal prairie before emptying into the Pacific Ocean. The Carmel River contributes to a precious coastal watershed but years of agriculture, land development, and storm erosion constrained the river. Near the mouth of the river, residents experienced major flooding events in the 1990s. When the river wasn’t overflowing, it was only a trickle due to overdraft of the aquifer beneath it.  Advocates have pushed to restore the floodplain and reduce flood risk for decades. Now, the Rancho Cañada Floodplain Restoration Project, on a unit of the Palo Corona Regional Park, is reviving the river. 

When San Diego was facing a historic drought in 1915, the city council turned to an unlikely character to solve their crisis: Charles Hatfield, a 40-year-old sewing machine salesman and “rainmaker.” 

“What followed in January and early February of 1916 was a downpour — 30 inches of rain by some estimates. Mission Valley flooded. The San Diego River jumped its banks. Farms, homes, bridges and businesses were swept away. Estimates of the deaths range from a dozen to 50.”

Rivers are the arteries of our earth’s landscape. Nothing matches a river’s abilities to connect our places and spaces and sustain life in, alongside, and even miles away from its course. A river will travel along the path of least resistance, beginning at a high point known as the headwater and ending at its mouth. Depending on its elevation, age, geology, and other factors, a river can make a mad dash through the landscape leaving behind canyons and waterfalls, or it may saunter across the land creating wide floodplains and marshes along its edges.

How do we manage rivers as functioning, sustainable ecosystems while still supporting human needs? It’s a complicated question without easy answers.

An afternoon thunderstorm rolls across the plains of northern Texas and on the banks of the Red River, the former cattle pastures and agricultural fields at Riverby Ranch slowly begin to fill with water. But there is no cause for concern; in fact, everything is going according to plan. As the North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) creates the area’s first major reservoir in nearly 30 years only a few miles from the Ranch, SWCA’s stream and wetland restoration plans will offset habitat lost to the new lake’s rising waters with a flood of its own – creating protected waterways and wetlands where cattle once grazed.

Shaped by rivers, sounds, and the Atlantic Ocean, the coastal regions of North Carolina offer thousands of miles of scenic waterfront. Yet, due to the increasing impacts of climate change, these very waterways threaten the livelihood of a coastline dotted with historic towns and millions of residents. Coastal communities are facing intensifying storms, rising sea levels, and high flood risk.

Twenty-six communities participated in the first phase of North Carolina's Resilient Coastal Communities Program (RCCP) in 2021 as a framework for counties and municipalities to prepare for coastal hazards through technical and financial support.

A rare, federally threatened western yellow-billed cuckoo and two pairs of federally endangered least Bell’s vireo have been identified on a Mojave River property recently purchased by the Mojave Desert Land Trust. These sightings, along with other special status birds and new range extension records, underscore the property’s future role as a haven for imperiled Mojave Desert species.

Bird surveys were carried out as part of a year-long project to develop a restoration plan for Palisades Ranch, a 1,647-acre property that spans 3.5 miles of the Mojave River. The rich plant community and presence of surface water attract around 40 special-status wildlife species, making it one of the Mojave Desert’s most important habitat areas.