Arundo Control and Restoration Program

With grant funds from the Department of Water Resources, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Conservancy (DC) the Solano Resource Conservation District (Solano RCD) and Sonoma Ecology Center (SEC) have mapped the invasive plant, Arundo donax, throughout the legal Delta, successfully treated Arundo in the Cache and Lindsey Slough complex and restored 17 acres of native riparian habitat. As the first phase of a proposed Delta-wide Arundo control program, this project completed three main goals:

1. Mapped all waterside Arundo infestations in the legal Delta.
2. Developed a prioritization model to help planners decide where in the Delta to initiate control efforts.
3. Completed a pilot project in the Cache Slough Complex to develop expertise in Arundo control, effective restoration techniques in the controlled areas, resource requirements, and landowner contacts to solicit their cooperation.

From 2015 to 2019, project partners treated, monitored and retreated 13 acres of Arundo in the Cache and Lindsey Slough area. Native riparian vegetation was successfully established on 13.5 acres of floodplain on Ulatis Creek, and 3.5 acres along irrigation ditches (working waterways) near Lindsey Slough to create 5 miles of riparian wildlife corridor.

This program and pilot project built upon experience gained, and landowner partnerships developed, during a small-scale Arundo control project on Hastings Cut between Lindsey and Cache Sloughs as part of the Solano County Delta Habitat Restoration Partnership.

The successful cooperation between landowners, local reclamation and resource conservation Districts, and State agencies is critical to developing a successful, long-term Delta-wide Arundo control program.

Is this an Active Project? Project completed and no funding available for further program expansion in the Delta.

Watershed: Sacramento – San Joaquin Delta – Cache Slough Complex

Recreation Features: No

Why is the project needed? What are the project goals?

Arundo donax is an invasive species introduced to California in the 1800's. It is becoming increasingly widespread in the Sacramento –San Joaquin Delta and is devastating to riparian habitat. It outcompetes native riparian plant species, consumes much more water, does not provide nesting or foraging habitat for wildlife, weakens levees, increases bank erosion during flood events, and increases fire severity.

This project funded the Delta Conservancy to develop a delta-wide, long-term Delta Arundo Control and Restoration Program to treat Arundo infestations and restore native vegetation to improve habitat along the Delta waterways.  

Collaboration

DWR and the Delta Conservancy worked with Solano RCD, area Reclamation Districts, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Team Arundo representatives, and local landowners to create a large scale Arundo control project and riparian restoration areas with a focus on the Lindsey Slough and Cache Creek Complexes and down the Sacramento River to Rio Vista.