Friday June 14, 2024
California Department of Water Resources —
California’s newest state park, Dos Rios, officially opened on June 12 in the San Joaquin Valley and the Department of Water Resources (DWR) is honored to be one of many partners that helped bring it to life. Through the use of nature-based solutions, Dos Rios State Park reduces flood risk for the surrounding area, provides a refuge for local residents during worsening heat waves, and restores the natural environment of the Central Valley to benefit local fish and wildlife. Dos Rios has been hailed as “a park of the future” and provides a blueprint for other projects.
DWR’s participation began in 2010 when the organization’s Flood Protection Corridor Program awarded River Partners $3 million in Proposition 84 funds to help acquire the 1,603-acre Dos Rios Ranch. Over the next 14 years, this site would undergo an extensive transformation to become a California State Park.
That transformation was not something that any one entity could do on its own. Along with DWR, a total of 11 partners provided $40 million to acquire and restore the property, which sits about eight miles west of Modesto at the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin Rivers. It’s the largest public-private floodplain restoration project in California.