Document Details

Sacramento County | Making Room for Recharge: Cosumnes River Levee Removal and Floodplain Restoration

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) | June 12th, 2014


Reconnecting rivers to floodplains can facilitate groundwater recharge. A recent project along the Cosumnes River is one of the first to intentionally demonstrate this recharge benefit. While this project was expensive and more complex than many forms of recharge, public funding paid for the project and a partnership with UC Davis is improving the understanding of groundwater-surface water interactions and basin groundwater conditions. In 2014, The Nature Conservancy piloted this concept by selectively removing portions of a private levee system along the Cosumnes River to enhance floodplain processes and restore approximately 500 acres of riparian habitat. The levee removal project offers multiple environmental benefits, including increased groundwater recharge in the floodplain.

Keywords

anadromous fish, floodplain restoration, groundwater dependent ecosystems, Groundwater Exchange, groundwater recharge, habitat restoration, levees, native fish, Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta