| From the ‘97 Flood: A Comprehensive Watershed Effort . . . to encourage restoration of watershed health and improve flood management
Every watershed effort forms for different reasons and comes together in different ways. The Cosumnes River Task Force was formed when, on January 2, 1997, the Cosumnes River experienced the most extensive flood event in recorded history. The Cosumnes River Watershed covers 963 square miles, ranges in elevation from near sea level to more than 7,500 feet and spans Sacramento, El Dorado, and Amador counties. At a length of just 80 miles, the Cosumnes River is neither the longest nor largest river system in California. However, it retains a special significance as the last untamed, virtually free flowing river system west of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The river has a natural flow regime, drying up in drought years and flooding in wet years. Impacts from this 1997 flood event were repeated throughout the state prompting the Governor to create a Flood Emergency Action Team assigned to make recommendations for repair and plans for future flood disasters. The Final Report (1997) recommended that the County of Sacramento and the Sloughhouse Resource Conservation District (RCD) form a Task Force to explore options for management of floods and associated impacts within the watershed. The mission of the Cosumnes River Task Force (CRTF) is to develop a long term strategy that will encourage restoration of watershed health and improve flood management. Now, the Task Force—in cooperation with the Sloughhouse Resource Conservation District—has nearly completed the Cosumnes River Watershed Resources Inventory and Assessment Phase II, funded by the CALFED Bay-Delta Watershed Program. The primary focus of the Cosumnes River Watershed Resources Inventory and Assessment Phase II has been sediment and ground disturbances in the Cosumnes River Watershed. Included in the Assessment are Stream Channel Processes; Watershed Processes including Land Use and Cover of the Cosumnes River Watershed; a Ground-Disturbance Survey; and Sediment Yield including Sediment Transport Monitoring and Modeling Sediment Yield. Jones & Stokes was hired to conduct the second phase of the resources inventory and assessment. With assistance from Northwest Hydraulics Consultants, Jones & Stokes recently concluded the Draft Assessment preparatory to the project’s Final Report due for publication in September 2003. Benefits of the Resources Inventory and Assessment Project include: # # #
California Biodiversity News: Volume 10, Number 1 |
