American Rivers Receives Grant to Restore Sierra Meadows, Improve Water Supply
Nevada City - American Rivers will receive $137,000 from the Sierra Nevada Conservancy to support the design of restoration projects in two Sierra Nevada meadows: Hope Valley, in the Humboldt Toiyabe National Forest, in the headwaters of the Carson River, and Shell Meadow in the Stanislaus National Forest, in the headwaters of the Stanislaus River. The grants will support two years of work to restore key headwater meadows and monitor the benefits to fish, wildlife and downstream water users.
“By restoring these meadows we can help them act as natural sponges that store water,” said Luke Hunt, director of headwaters restoration in the California office of American Rivers. “As climate change reduces snowpack, California’s rivers and the downstream communities that depend on them will need this kind of innovative water supply solution.”
Meadow restoration is part of American Rivers’ work to prepare California’s rivers for the impacts of climate change. Healthy meadows soak up snowmelt like a sponge and store water high in the cool Sierra headwaters. Water flows out of the meadows during the summer drought when rivers need it most.
American Rivers’ Sierra meadow restoration work is a partnership that includes the Sierra Nevada Conservancy, U.S. Forest Service, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Institute for Bird Populations, Trout Unlimited and others. The grant’s funding source is Proposition 84: the water supply and flood control bond of 2006.
Learn more here: http://www.americanrivers.org/initiatives/water-supply/projects/ca-meadow-rest.html.
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American Rivers is the leading organization working to protect and restore the nation’s rivers and streams. Rivers connect us to each other, nature, and future generations. Since 1973, American Rivers has fought to preserve these connections, helping protect and restore more than 150,000 miles of rivers through advocacy efforts, on-the-ground projects, and the annual release of America’s Most Endangered Rivers®.
Headquartered in Washington, DC, American Rivers has offices across the country and more than 100,000 supporters, members, and volunteers nationwide. Visit www.americanrivers.org, www.facebook.com/americanrivers and www.twitter.com/americanrivers.
