Posted on July 8, 2024
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded a $2.6 million contract May 31 to C.T.L. Forest Management, Inc. for the creation of approximately 59 acres of habitat to offset environmental impacts of future levee improvements.
The contract tasks the Cameron Park, California-based company to conduct earthwork, plantings, and habitat establishment plus four years of maintenance for the benefit of fish and wildlife species impacted by upcoming levee work at river mile 30 of Tenmile Slough. Mitigation efforts will create a combination of riparian forest and wetlands a little over two miles west of the levee construction, which is planned to begin in Spring 2025.
This is the first mitigation site to be established under the $1.3 billion San Joaquin River Basin, Lower San Joaquin River, California project. Elderberry shrub relocations were completed earlier this year to prevent habitat loss and harm to the federally threatened Valley Elderberry Longhorn Beetle.
Work is expected to begin in early August.
The San Joaquin River Basin, Lower San Joaquin River, California project is a cost-shared project being completed by USACE, the Central Valley Flood Protection Board, California’s Department of Water Resources, and the San Joaquin Area Flood Control Agency. The project is expected to benefit 162,000 residents through implementation of structural improvements along 23 miles of levee and at two closure structures, and non-structural improvements such as comprehensive emergency evacuation planning and floodplain management. The project’s initial schedule targets completion in 2039.
