(funded by the CALFED Bay-Delta Watershed Program 2008 - 2010)

Background: Cache Creek experiences large fluctuations in water flow, contributing to streambank erosion and downstream sedimentation. The Army Corps of Engineers has estimated that approximately 33 acres of agricultural land are lost each year due to bank erosion in the Cache Creek Watershed.  Channel instability threatens adjacent homes, and can impact the riparian habitat that functions as an important wildlife corridor from the Coast Range to the Yolo Bypass.  Additionally, a significant proportion of mercury transported into the Bay-Delta is derived from previously deposited mercury-laden sediment in Cache Creek. Understanding the processes that contribute to bank erosion is an important step toward developing strategies to stabilize and restore this important water and habitat resource.

Over the 2.5 year grant periord this project will:

• Conduct a large-scale hydrologic/geomorphic assessment of the 33 mile Capay Valley reach of Lower Cache Creek.
• Utilize historic & current data to determine the underlying causes of channel instability, & produce models that predict future locations and rates of erosion. 
• Produce a ranking system  to identify and prioritize sites for stabilization and restoration.
• Use the assessment process to provide a framework  for the development of a watershed science education program for local middle school students that will provide field-based training in the collection, interpretation and reporting of local watershed conditions. 
• Develop regional & watershed-wide strategies of erosion control through continued collaboration with the tri-county Cache Creek Watershed Forum. 
  

Project components

Watershed assessment

The assessment will evaluate and quantify historic changes in hydrologic and geomorphic conditions along the 33-mile Capay Valley reach of Cache Creek in response to changes in land-use and water development. The assessment will also identify current sites & conditions  that are trending away from geomrphic equilibrium. Comparisons between past and present conditions  and processes will be used to distinguish between "natural" and "accelerated" bank erosion, and to identify the underlying causes so that appropriate solutions can be developed.

Watershed science education

The youth education component of the project is called the STREAM program (Student Training in Reporting for Environmental & Agricultural-Science Media),and is designed to supplement local middle school students' in-class studies of earth and life sciences.

Students will also receive training in digital media technology  and will be assisted with the production of their own  short environmental  documentaries, public service announcements,  and web productions  to share information about the local watershed with their local community. For a brochure describing the program please click here.

Regional collaboration

The information acquired through the assessment has applications to lands up-watershed as well, where bank erosion is also a serious issue. This project will continue  the on-going regional collaboration with the Cache Creek Watershed Forum to address watershed-wide strategies of erosion control  and riparian vegetation management.

In May, in conjunction with Watershed Awareness Month,  the tri-county Cache Creek Watershed Forum organizes and hosts Cache Creek Discovery Day. This is a free, outdoor youth-education event designed for families to participate in a variety of activities that celebrate features of the watershed. To download an event flyer to print click here.

Partners

Partners for this project include Kamman Hydrology & Engineering, Inc. (conducting the large-scale geomorphic assessment), and Davis Media Access (providing digital media training for students in the STREAM program) and the Center for Land-Based Learning (who will provide in-field logistical support for student field site visits).

For more information about this project, please contact:

• Tanya Meyer, 530-662-2037 X114 for questions about the Geomorphic Assessment in Capay Valley

• Diane Crumley, 530-574-8557 for questions about the STREAM watershed education program

Children watch as the goats graze on the invasive tamarisk vegetation near the creek at an interactive  demonstration at Cache Creek Discovery Day 2007. This was a very popular learning station where visitors learned the difference between native and non-native, invasive vegetation, and of course, the kids enjoyed watching the goats perform "vegetation management".