Tuesday April 16, 2024
The Modesto Bee via AOL —
The state has granted $40 million to River Partners to greatly expand the floodplain restoration it has demonstrated at Dos Rios Ranch.
The nonprofit will identify rivers from Stanislaus to Kern counties that could benefit from this work. It seeks to enhance wildlife habitat while providing room for floodwaters to spread.
“This is four times larger than any grant River Partners has ever received,” President Julie Rentner said in a phone interview Thursday, Sept. 15. “It’s tremendous.”
Dos Rios is a 2,100-acre expanse where the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers merge southwest of Modesto. River Partners and its allies have spent a decade and about $46 million turning former farm fields into riparian forest.
The $40 million was approved in early September by the California Wildlife Conservation Board. It is separate from the $5 million announced in June toward making Dos Rios a state park in the coming years.