River revival - San Joaquin River in California's Central Valley - Brief Article

Sunset, March, 2001 by Lisa Taggart

The Central Valley's San Joaquin River is being restored a stretch at a time--for wildlife and for recreation

Part the reeds edging a dirt trail a few miles below Friant Dam on the San Joaquin River near Fresno, and you'll catch sight of a rock-rimmed swimming hole. Upstream the waterway descends gently in a series of small waterfalls, dodging huge boulders; downstream it disappears behind a thicket of willows. At the river's edge, a school of small, dark fish darts away as a shadow crosses the water.

Twenty years ago few people could have imagined that the San Joaquin River, a waterway that has been called one of California's most damaged, would ever again support wildlife and recreation. But this 22-mile stretch--the San Joaquin River Parkway--is proving the skeptics wrong. For the last 13 years, a Fresno-based environmental group called the San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust has been working to restore and preserve it. Along the parkway, which runs from Friant Dam to State 99, more than 3,000 riverside acres have been preserved. The trust hopes to double that number in the next decade or so. Four parks--the most recent, Wildwood Native Park, opened last summer--now line this corridor, providing a greenway on the river that's the lifeblood of the Central Valley.

The trust operates on the theory that the more people know about the river and its resources, the more enthusiastic they'll be about saving it. "We want to establish a connection between people and the river," explains Steve Spratt, community outreach director for the trust. Activities sponsored by the trust, such as cleanup days, native plant restoration projects, and guided hikes and canoe trips, help people rediscover the beauty of a river that has been so altered by man that few people can remember what it once looked like, let alone imagine what it could once again become.

Time and the river

Along its 350-mile journey from the Sierra to the Delta through the southern Central Valley, the San Joaquin River drops 13,000 feet, crosses seven counties, and supports one of the nation's largest agricultural economies.

The people who've benefited most from the river haven't always been kind to it. Over the years it has been mined, diverted, channeled, drained, and polluted, and it has been the focus of dozens of legal battles over how its waters should be used. Finally, after 100 years of wrangling, the river--or at least parts of it--is being restored to a more natural state.

The monumental job of healing the river will take decades and involves myriad competing interests. But initial steps are in the works. A 13-year-old lawsuit between environmentalists and government and farm interests reached a tentative truce in 1999 after both sides agreed to develop a river restoration plan. Getting the area's many different landowners and river-users involved in the decision-making process is important to all sides.

"I think we're at a point where we can restore some of the riparian habitat," says Russ Grimes, program manager for the Bureau of Reclamation's river habitat restoration program. He is heading a project to reestablish native vegetation along the riverbanks. "It's just going to take an awful lot of community involvement," he says.

Steve Chedester, whose group, San Joaquin River Exchange Contractors Water Authority, represents water rights for about 2,700 farmers downstream of the parkway, agrees that restoration of the San Joaquin is possible, as long as the farming economy remains viable. "But it's going to be a long process. We're farmers, so we're used to viewing things in a long-term fashion," he says.

Dave Koehler, executive director of the trust, also takes a long view of the river's future, but he is quick to point out that since its founding in 1988, the trust has accomplished more than many thought would ever be possible--to a large extent by getting the community involved enough to care about the San Joaquin again. And the trust's efforts have inspired other conservation programs on the San Joaquin's tributaries.

"The struggle to address water issues is always going to be with us," says Koehler. "I joke that I entered this with some degree of naivete; that if I had stopped and looked at what we were trying to achieve, maybe I would have caved in to the skeptics. But the river is an incredible resource to have in your backyard. To be able to escape here is a tremendous asset."

San Joaquin River travel planner

The San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust is the best source of information on conservation efforts along the river. For more information on the trust, its lands, and its guided hikes and canoe trips, call (559) 248-8480 or go to www.riverparkway.org.

Lost Lake Recreation Area. A 305-acre county park with cottonwood-shaded picnic tables and campsites ($11), plus hiking trails, canoeing, and fishing along the river. $3 per vehicle. Off Friant Rd., 8 miles east of State 41. Fresno County parks office; (559) 488-3004.

San Joaquin River Parkway. The parkway is about 15 miles northeast of Fresno. Most lands and programs are administered by the trust. Some of the trust's lands are ecological reserves open only on guided hikes. Canoe trips begin in May. River cleanup and habitat restoration workdays are held regularly.