Productive Farmlands
Floodplain Forward
Incorporating the best available science and practical know-how of farm and refuge managers to reactivate the floodplain in a sustainable way that serves multiple-benefits.
Maximizing Land and Water for a Climate-Resilient Future.
We are trying to maximize value from every inch of land and every drop of water in the Sacramento River Basin through the Floodplain Forward Coalition.
Through the necessary use of land, funding and permitting, we can create a system that benefits people and aids endangered wildlife species. If provided with adequate resources, we can demonstrate that the Floodplain Forward approach is climate resilient and ensures greater water security for all Californians today and into the future.
We have to figure out how to modernize our water infrastructure and management systems for this new weather whiplash we are experiencing. Expanding floodplains is a really smart flood protection strategy; it protects communities under flood risk, but it also allows us to restore our salmon population and create environmental habitat as fish, birds and wildlife are more stressed from climate change. It is a cost effective, smart, proven, multi-beneficial investment in our future. Wade Crowfoot, California’s Natural Resources Secretary.
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Productive Farmlands
Agriculture is the economic engine of the Sacramento Valley with the 500,000 acres of ricelands used to grow world-class medium- and short-grain rice during the spring and summer, thus supporting families and communities. In the fall and winter these same farmers help provide fish and bird habitat after harvest. -
Feeding Fish
Feeding Fish
The bypasses offer an opportunity for migrating fish to access the floodplains to feed on bugs (as they historically have) before heading back into the river, while winter ricelands produce the same bugs during decomposition of rice straw but the enriched water is pumped back into the Sacramento River. -
Creating Bird Habitat
Creating Bird Habitat
The Sacramento Valley is a critical stopover site along the Pacific Flyway for waterfowl and shorebirds. It is estimated that 4 million ducks, geese and other waterfowl as well as 250,000 shorebirds rely on the bypasses, refuges and ricelands to rest and feed each winter. -
Flood Protection and
Groundwater RechargeFlood Protection and Groundwater Recharge
The bypasses offer protection from flood waters for millions of people up and down the Sacramento Valley. In addition, above normal years also provide the ability to recharge aquifers that can be drawn on during drier seasons.
Where we are reconnecting the floodplains.
Spanning from Chico to the Delta, and from the Sierra Nevada to the coast ranges, nearly the entire Sacramento River Basin in as part of the historic flood plane that provided in abundance of habitat for fish and wildlife. Construction of levees and dams may have altered the landscape, but the Floodplain Forward Coalition is working on innovative ways to reconnect the rivers to the flood planes, while still providing critical flood protection.
Floodplain
Mountain Range
Rivers
The Coalition
The Floodplain Forward Coalition is an innovative collaboration between 27 organizations based in conservation, biology, water management, farming, and local government.
Sacramento River Basin Floodplains at the Heart of Landmark Agreement
On October 23, 2024 an MOU was signed to improve communications between agencies, enhance flood protection, create and protect habitat for fish and wildlife, increase long-term health for farms and communities.
Federal and State of California government agencies, overseeing water, agriculture, fish and wildlife, public lands and flood control, have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance collaboration on landscape-scale, multi-beneficial floodplain water projects in the Sacramento River Basin.
Read MoreQuotes from State and Federal Leaders
Floodplains in Cinema
Explore the floodplains through the eyes of award-winning storytellers who feature the people, fish and wildlife who call this place home.
We care deeply about the Sacramento Valley and its communities. We believe it’s vitally important to conserve fish, birds, other wildlife, and the habitats that support them, including farms and refuges. In this time of climate change, which is fueling extended droughts and catastrophic fire, action is urgently needed to protect fish and wildlife resources and communities. Restoring floodplains through collaboration is a wonderful example of how we accomplish this task. We are grateful for the leadership shown by our friends in the Sacramento Valley, our State and Federal partners, and the many other groups and individuals who share and act upon this vision for our future. Paul Souza, Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Pacific Southwest Region
Our Efforts on the Floodplains
