August 4, 2023
At 366 miles, the San Joaquin River is one of the longest in California. Its headwaters originate in two regions where this Conservancy is now working to restore meadow ecosystems: here in Reds Meadow Valley along its Middle Fork and in Evolution Valley in Kings Canyon along its South Fork. This work is essential to ensure water resiliency and robust habitat while supporting the recreation economy.
Reds Meadow Vallet has six public campgrounds perched on 6 miles of the San Joaquin’s banks. Daily during the summer, they accommodate 900 visitors and 275 vehicles. After expanding for over 50 years without a master plan, five of these campgrounds are so poorly situated and in such bad disrepair that they are seriously impacting meadows and riparian terrain. Middle Agnew Meadow to the north is damaged by a downcut trail and an adjacent parking lot. Our Conservancy is beginning a multi-season work plan to relocate and renovate those campgrounds and restore vital systems supporting the San Joaquin.
Michael Piatti
Infrastructure Project Manager
DISPATCH:
Working with the Inyo National Forest leadership, we retained a top landscape architecture firm and ecological consultant to start the design process. After walking many miles around the campgrounds last week, our first step is to survey each campground and its surrounding terrain and to map aquatic assets. With snowmelt and water flow so high, a good part of each campground is being reclaimed with verdant growth. This makes our design decisions, in many cases, self-evident. The design work will begin in earnest this fall.
Michael Piatti with Inyo National Forest leadership during the July 25-28 site tour.
Spencer Collom
Field Operations Officer
DISPATCH:
The design and build strategy over such a large area is considerable. The survey and aquatics mapping will give us eligible terrain to relocate campsites that are currently sitting on the riverbanks and fringes of the meadows. We will have to field-verify everything and plan to return for a complete site tour in October. Lots of work ahead!
Reds Meadow Valley Project Map
Flowing into the San Joaquin Delta and out of San Francisco Bay, the San Joaquin’s riparian corridor is an essential sponge for water retention and is one of the richest in both biodiversity and indigenous cultural history. This mighty river floods in high snow years, creating an “inland sea” in California’s Central Valley. Even with the large number of dams harnessing its flow, we saw the inland sea form this spring as the season’s historic snowpack began its long melt.
Marla Stark
President & Chair
We need to ensure the health and vitality of the San Joaquin River’s headwaters in the Sierra Nevada for our shared future.
