sonoma County, CA
Stage Zero Restoration of Lakeville Creek
Project Details
Lakeville Creek is a seasonal tributary to the Petaluma River located on the historic edge of San Pablo Bay. Historic land use has impacted the channel and has resulted in downcutting that has disconnected it from its floodplain and has lowered the groundwater table across a highly erosive landscape.
Location: Sonoma County, CA
Client: Sonoma Land Trust
Sonoma Land Trust (SLT) in partnership with PCI Ecological secured funding from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to design and implement restoration of a 4,200 foot section of Lakeville Creek to restore hydrologic and ecological function to the site. Extensive revegetation was completed to protect the soil from erosion and increase habitat value for native wildlife, including special-status species like the California red-legged frog.
Project goals
Stage Zero restoration is a newer approach to stream restoration allowing for an immediate “full-valley reset” of a degraded watershed using grading and revegetation techniques to quickly return an stream to pre-disturbance conditions.
Benefits
The restoration of Lakeville Creek to Stage Zero conditions has:
Reconnected Lakeville Creek to its alluvial valley floodplains
Raised the seasonal water table level
Facilitated the development of complex habitats
Created a functioning coastal alluvial fan ecosystem that more closely resembles a more self-sustaining historic condition to provide climate resilience.
before
After
PARTNERSHIPS
sonoma land trust
Sonoma Resource Conservation District
California Department of Fish and Wildlife
Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria
Permit sonoma
The Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation
Walker Avenue Nursery
The Watershed Nursery
Cornflower Farms
Dixon Marine Services, Inc.
PROJECT MAP
Project highlights
This project has helped Sonoma Land Trust to meet their ambitious, landscape-scale goals to restore the San Pablo tidal bay lands. The project was the second restoration project in the State to use the CEQA Statutory Exemption for Restoration Projects (SERP) with Sonoma County serving as the CEQA Lead Agency.
PCI Ecological worked with local native plant nurseries (the Laguna Foundation, Walker Avenue Nursery, the Watershed Nursery) to grow the 35,000+ wetland, wet meadow, and upland plants needed for revegetation.
