The majority of streams, rivers, and wetlands across California have been degraded by a number of factors, including heavy cattle grazing and the associated soil compaction in valley bottoms, dam building, urban run off, industrial chemical discharge, hydraulic mining, the overuse of groundwater, the historic near-extirpation of the North American beaver (Castor canadensis), and the intentional straightening of stream courses, among other things. 

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As a result, along with being polluted, many of our state's rivers and streams have also become channelized, incised, and less perennial than they once were. The vast majority of our wetlands (> 95%) have been lost altogether. Restoring these vital aquatic systems sits at the core of our mission at Wet Meadows. The following schematics from American Rivers are helpful in understanding what degraded meadow conditions look like compared to their healthy, original state:

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Process-based restoration: 

We have been convinced by the work of pioneering restoration ecologists in the Western U.S. that the most effective restoration work is that which restores processes, rather than simply things. With wet meadow and stream channel restoration work, this involves looking to nature to see how hydrological processes function. The use of beaver dam analogs (BDAs) and natural systems mimicry more generally is at the heart of our approach to habitat rehabilitation and watershed health. The proper placement of BDAs, large woody debris, or rocks and stones can serve as a corrective stimulus that helps the system more quickly resume meandering, ponding, infiltration into groundwater, and connection with the floodplain.  ​

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We evaluate the effectiveness of our interventions through changes in hydrologic conditions, biological monitoring, and adopt adaptive management techniques to make corrections with time. As practitioners of the process-based restoration approach, we encourage human collaboration with natural systems and, of course, with the original terra-formers of our North American watersheds—the beaver. Most of our work is meant only to be a preliminary corrective measure that creates wet enough conditions for beaver to be able to reestablish (if context allows) and carry the work forward on their own accord.

 

Furthermore, we see healthy upland and riparian areas as inextricably intertwined and design projects accordingly in order to address landscape-level concerns. ​​We prioritize efforts in headwater drainages and tributaries where tangible, quantifiable, & low cost intervention can be repeated at scale to serve the greater vasculature of our river systems and groundwater basins, focusing on one sub-basin at a time.

 

We also offer assistance with sourcing funding and streamlining environmental permitting processes in order to get projects off the ground quickly. 

 

Snapshot of meadow and stream channel restoration services we provide:

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• Meadow and stream restoration funding, permitting, and contracting services 

• Log jams (for high stream power systems) ​

• BDAs (rocks, sticks, soil, plants, typically used for lower stream power systems)

• "One Rock Dams" (following Van Clothier of Stream Dynamics)

• Willow planting (as reinforcements for BDA walls or as standalone riparian buffer strip trees)

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We are licensed, bonded, & insured (CSLB C-49 License #1148726).