This story was originally published byGristand co-published withFresnoland.
The land of the Central Valley works hard.
There is one exception to this law of productivity.
Photo: Mario Tama (Getty Images)
Now those plants have returned.
I have a different way of looking at the ground.
The restored floodplain solves both problems at once.
It also provides a haven for migratory birds and other species that have faced the threat of extinction.
Its been amazing just getting to see nature take it back over, Stevenot said.
You dont hear anything.
But you come out here on that same day, you hear insects, songbirds.
Its that lower part of the ecosystem starting up.
Stevenots own career path mirrors that of the land he now tends.
Now he presides over the whole ecosystem.
But building another Dos Rios isnt just about finding money to buy and reforest thousands of acres of land.
Thats what fed the sediment, and how we replenish our groundwater reserves.
Lyons is a third-generation family farmer, the heir to a farming dynasty that began when his great-uncle E.T.
Mape came over from Ireland.
And she thought Lyons land was the perfect place to start.
As Lyons started talking with Rentner, he found her practical and detail-oriented.
Within a year, he and his family had made a handshake deal to sell her the flood-prone land.
For Rentner, the process wasnt anywhere near so easy.
How are you going to get there?
I dont know, Rentner told them in response.
Were just gonna keep writing proposals, I guess.
After three years of intensive cultivation, we walk away, said Rentner.
We literally stopped doing any restoration work.
The vegetation figures itself out, and what weve seen is, its resilient.
At the same time, floods are also getting harder to manage.
Read Next:Flood.
Fixing the states distorted water system for an era of climate change will be the work of many decades.
Do I think that will happen in my lifetime?
No, but we have to keep working toward it.
The only viable sources for that much funding are the state and federal governments.
But that has started to change.
Earlier this year, state lawmakers set aside $40 million to fund new restoration projects.
Its also in the process of closing on another 500-acre site nearby.
Itsquite another to do it farther southin the Tulare Basin, wherethe powerful farm company J.G.
Boswellhas been accused ofchanneling floodwater toward nearby townsin an effort to save its own tomato crops.
Its going to be a challenge, said Rentner.
And maybe its not as simple as just the highest bidder.
This article originally appeared inGristathttps://grist.org/agriculture/dos-rios-california-central-valley-floodplain/.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.
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