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What are these ecological
source issues?

desertification, erosion, channel incision, nutrient removal, forest disease outbreaks, wildfire intensity, drought severity, flooding, habitat degradation, loss of biodiversity

Watersheds throughout CA and western states have experienced severe impacts to important processes that maintain ecological and geomorphic resiliency in response to disturbance. Some of the disturbances include wildfire, drought, flooding, and disease outbreaks. These impacts to ecological integrity are the result of harsh and complex landuse histories. In the last 2.5 centuries, many people and society at large has dissociated from our ancestral connection to the management of landscapes.  Relative to our species history on this planet, this disconnect has occurred within an incredibly short  timeframe (speaking geologically).

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In California and other western states, threats to our abilities to withstand disturbance include incision & channelization, toxic storm runoff,  desertification, groundwater depletion, and disruption of ecological succession.​ In one extreme- some areas of the Tulare Lake basin have subsided up to 30 feet in elevation because the soil pore space has lost its water. These all represent an ever growing and existential crisis, however... there are solutions... solutions which wont necessarily require incredibly technological inventions or boatloads of money.

 

These solutions require us to directly address threats via rehabilitation of ecological and geomorphic processes: sediment capture, floodplain connection & habitat complexity, infiltration, organic matter mineralization,  perennialization, water retention and allowance of ecological succession. All of these natural processes occur in systems that have some level of ecological integrity.

Our goal as restoration practitioners is to encourage these systems to do the work for us to rehabilitate resiliency (i.e. jump start feedback loops that will continue to build upon themselves and provide ecosystem service returns with minimal human input and management).

sharing information
about the source issues
in our local watersheds &
collaborating with integrated  
nature-based" solutions &
process-based restoration

e.g. Occidental Arts & Ecology Center's
"Fuels to Flows" campaign

Hire us to remove the fire- ladder!

And utilize the unwanted biomass to generate
habitat, healthy soil, kindling, bio-char, and natural wildfire breaks
(instead of burning into fumes and ash)!

Wet Meadows is currently piloting
habitat features for CA Quail & other songbirds
in edge habitat restoration on CA rangelands-see below

 

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Beneficial-Biomass-Portfolio-FINAL-1_edi

Linked Reference Material

Textbook

Low-Tech PBR ManualWheaton JM, Bennett SN, Bouwes N, Maestas JD, Shahveridan SM. 2019. Low-tech methods of Process Based Restoration of Riverscapes: Design Manual. 1.0. Logan, UT: Utah State Univeristy. https://lowtechpbr.restoration.usu.edu/.

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Articles

Effectiveness of Low-Tech PBRSilverman NL, Allred BW, Donnelly JP, Chapman TB, Maestas JD, Wheaton JM, White J, Naugle DE. 2019. Low-tech riparian and wet meadow restoration increases vegetation productivity and resilience across semiarid rangelands. Restor Ecol. 27(2):269–278. doi:10.1111/REC.12869.

Beaver-Based Restoration: Jordan CE, Fairfax E. 2022. Beaver: The North American freshwater climate action plan. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water. 9(4):e1592. doi:10.1002/WAT2.1592. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/wat2.1592.

Importance of MeadowsPope KL, Cummings AK. 2023. Recovering the lost potential of meadows to help mitigate challenges facing California’s forests and water supply. California Fish and Wildlife Journal 109(1): 977. 109(1). doi:10.51492/CFWJ.109.3

Watershed Degradation in the Western U.S.: Whol, E. 2013. Anthropocene (2): Wilderness is dead: Whither critical zone studies and geomorphology in the Anthropocene? https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ancene.2013.03.001

Stream Channels: Cleur B, Thorne CR. 2014. River Research and Applications 30(2): A Stream Evolution Model Integrating Habitat and Ecosystem Benefits.http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.2631

Film

Groundwater: National Geographic. 2017. Water & Power​: A California Heist. Directed by Marina Zenovich

Fuels to Flows: Occidental Arts & Ecology Center. 2025. Gully Stuffing: "How To Turn Slash Into Beneficial Biomass"

Meadows: Plumas Corp. 2009. "Restoring Nature's Reservoirs".

Photos

San Luis Obispo Beaver Brigade: Salinas River Beaver Walks. Upper Salinas River. Feb. 2024. 

First Rain Watershed Restoration Workshop. Southfork Yuba River. April 20-21, 2024.

Rocky Creek stream & meadow field day. Oct. 2022.

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