Mountain meadows function as natural sponges that store water and slowly release it into groundwater aquifers and streams.  As these habitats decline stream banks lose stability, runoff occurs more quickly, erosion accelerates stream temperatures war and water tables decline.

Thanks to support from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, a novel partnership has formed to help identify and restore high priority meadow ecosystems in the Sierra Nevada and southern Cascades of California. 

CalTrout and Trout Unlimited have combined their fisheries and on-the-ground capabilities with researchers from the University of California-Davis and University of Nevada-Reno to combat the problems of declining streamflows and native fishes.

By working together we can turn degraded meadows where rain now runs off rapidly and erodes soils, into naturally functioning systems that cleanse and store water for slower release into our streams. Cumulatively, this makes a big difference not just to trout but also to downstream water users.

The same restoration projects that benefit trout in high elevation meadows can benefit irrigators and communities. Success will require a team effort from federal and state agencies, landowners, local watershed councils, conservation groups, and scientists.

In Phase I of the project, our team will evaluate past meadow and riparian restoration to find out what methods work best, where, and why. We will also find high priority meadows where rare trout will benefit as habitats are restored and stream flows are enhanced. 

Phase II will begin evaluating and implementing restoration across the range of California's native trout from the Oregon border and down the crest of the Sierra.

For more information about this project contact Curtis Knight of CalTrout at cknight@caltrout.org