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Corps and Nature Conservancy Partnership Grows
By Cindy Tejeda, South Pacific Division Watershed Planner
A new Regional Memorandum of Understanding between The Nature Conservancy and the South Pacific Division formalizes collaborative efforts on federal projects. The memo signed by SPD Commander Colonel (P) Scott F. “Rock” Donahue and Karen Berky, Western Division Director of The Nature Conservancy, in September formalizes a partnership that is well established at both the regional and national level.
The Corps and the Conservancy share a common vision of developing sustainable solutions through collaboration with partners and stakeholders. It is precisely this kind of partnership that will enable USACE to make this vision a reality.
As a nongovernment organization (NGO) partner, The Nature Conservancy brings a science-based focus on ecosystems and
sustainability that leads to new possibilities for USACE project delivery. This synergy is particularly relevant in SPD, which encompasses many of our nation’s most arid States. Water resources management is particularly challenging in the West given the trend of population growth, scarcity of water, the presence of hundreds of Threatened and Endangered species and future uncertainty brought on by climate change.
McCormack-Williamson Tract Project (CALFED Levee Stability Program)
The Corps and the Conservancy are currently working together on several projects including an initiative to address ecosystem and levee stability issues on the McCormack-Williamson Tract of the Cosumnes River in California’s Central Valley.
The Nature Conservancy’s Cosumnes River Project is a broad-based effort to restore and safeguard the integrity of the Cosumnes River and its surrounding landscape. The Nature Conservancy and its partners established the Cosumnes River Preserve in 1987 with 1,480 acres. By 2000, the Preserve had grown to encompass more than 40,000 acres.
The Cosumnes River Project continues to grow and expand; it now encompasses more than 46,000 acres. While the Preserve was initially created primarily to protect and restore a viable valley oak woodland ecosystem, the scope of the project expanded considerably and includes all associated Central Valley habitats and their dependent wildlife.
Public education and recreation opportunities are strategically aimed at increasing public awareness and support for the project. Staten Island, a 9,000 acre island in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (Delta) is what TNC calls a “working landscape.” Corn and other food products are grown through the year providing employment and revenue for the Delta community. The wildlife friendly practices that are used extensively result in an amazing array of diverse wildlife, including Sandhill cranes.
An important component of the is the McCormack-Williamson Tract. The McCormack-Williamson Tract is owned by TNC, which is partnering with the University of California at Davis, the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) and USACE to explore integrated flood risk management and ecosystem restoration on this island.
USACE is participating in this collaboration through the CALFED Levee Stability Program, a multipurpose program that authorizes the Secretary of the Army (through PL 108-361) to implement projects addressing flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, water supply, water quality and the beneficial reuse of dredged materials for levee stability. Sacramento District is working to prioritize “early implementation” projects in the Delta – those that are consistent with the longer term, future visions for the Delta currently being developed by a multitude of stakeholders across the state of California. The McCormack-Williamson Tract plays a key role in North Delta hydraulics and provides potential for a balancing of flood risk management and ecosystem restoration. The property typically floods by overtopping at the Northeast end during large flood events and then breaches downstream in an uncontrolled fashion, causing stress on and failure of adjacent levees and local marina moorings. Project alternatives would allow the passing of flood flows through McCormack-Williamson in a way that minimizes flood impacts to the rest of the system.
Because McCormack-Williamson Tract’s topography varies from roughly minus four to plus five above sea-level, the Tract provides an ideal landscape gradient for a continuum of habitat types as part of the flood risk management solution.
This project presents unique opportunities for synergy in achieving flood risk management and ecosystem restoration goals. Components considered for flood risk management, such as setback levees and flood bypass areas, may also be configured to create quality habitat for species of concern in the North Delta area. Through well-integrated flood risk management and ecosystem restoration objectives, efficient solutions can be achieved that maximize benefits for both.
This project is just one of many exciting, collaborative endeavors to achieve sustainability in the South Pacific Division. As the partnership continues to grow, we look forward to future opportunities to strengthen the partnership and better serve the public. For more information about the SPD’s regional Corps-Conservancy partnership, contact Cindy Tejeda, Regional Watershed Planner at Cindy.L.Tejeda@usace.army.mil or Michael Powelson of TNC at mpowelson@tnc.org. For more information on the McCormack- Williamson project, contact Brooke Schlenker, Sacramento District at Brooke.E.Schlenker@usace.army.mil, or Matt Reeve of DWR at mreeve@water.ca.gov. For more information on the Cosumnes River Project, contact Leo Winternitz of TNC at lwinternitz@tnc.org.