Rancho Canada Floodplain Restoration Project Construction Monitoring & Reporting

Description

Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District (MPRPD) in collaboration with numerous federal, state, and local government agencies and non-profits, including the Coastal Conservancy, is working to restore and enhance floodplain connectivity and channel processes of the Carmel River at the Rancho Cañada unit of Palo Corona Regional Park, the site of the former 36-hole Rancho Cañada golf course. During its operational life, the golf course was the second highest water user on the Carmel River. In 2018, a consortium of conservation partners including the Trust for Public Land, Santa Lucia Conservancy, Trout Unlimited, the California Coastal Conservancy, and the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District acquired the property for conservation and recreational purposes.The Rancho Cañada Floodplain Restoration Project (Project) will restore a one-mile section of the Carmel River so that natural processes will reconnect the river with historic floodplain habitat and create a mosaic of self-sustaining riparian habitat types and instream complexity. Approximately 3,200 linear feet of riprap will be removed to restore natural geomorphic processes (such as scour, deposition, and meander migration). Over 650,000 cubic yards of sediment will be excavated, which will lower the existing disconnected floodplains so that annual inundation can recur. Backwater channels and alcoves will be created within the new floodplain surfaces to create areas that will inundate at winter base flows, recreating critical areas of quiet water that will be available to aquatic species. In-channel gravel will be added to raise the water surface elevation upstream, helping push water into new floodplains. Three former golf cart bridges will be retired, eliminating a safety hazard and providing additional space for the Carmel River to migrate. One new pedestrian bridge will be constructed as part of the project, which will be rated for emergency vehicle access to support safe p