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A new map developed by Ducks Unlimited indicates the various land uses that together make up the Pacific Flyway habitat in the Sacramento Valley. The dominant land use providing habitat is irrigated rice ground. This is joined by sizable acreages of privately managed wetland areas, National Wildlife Refuges and State Wildlife Areas.

State and local leaders gathered on the banks of the Winters Canal in Yolo County yesterday to commemorate the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District’s (District) project to recharge groundwater into underground storage. The project is part of the ongoing efforts to sustainably manage groundwater in the Sacramento Valley and throughout California. The District … Continue reading “Recharging Groundwater and Sustainable Groundwater Management in Yolo County”

With California commemorating “Invasive Species Action Week”, now is a good time to think about actions that we can all take to help save and recover salmon in California. Although there are many factors that affect salmon survival, biologists seem to agree that a large and increasing percentage of young salmon are dying as a result of predation by non-native, invasive, fish.

With respect to our ongoing efforts to help recover salmon in the Sacramento Valley, there is a lot to learn from the work over the past several decades to improve bird habitat and food sources along the Pacific Flyway. The major breakthrough on the Pacific Flyway came when farmers, hunters and naturalists all started asking the same question: why were all the birds congregating on the rice fields rather than the purely managed wetlands next door?