Featured Projects
Below are a few samples of watershed projects within our local community. Some of these projects are focused on environmental restoration, while others are centered around monitoring or education. Further details about each project are available via the links provided.
The Corona and Twin Peaks Mines are inactive mercury mines located in the northwest corner of Napa County, in the East Mayacmas Mercury District. Recent investigations by Tuleyome’s project team documented that these mines continue to release iron, sulfate, nickel, and mercury downstream to James Creek and beyond. Learn more.
Napa County, with support from several partners, is developing a Napa River Sediment Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) Implementation Tracking and Accounting System (ITAS). The system will be designed to account for required and recommended implementation actions prescribed in the Napa River Sediment Reduction and Habitat Enhancement Plan (Napa River Sediment TMDL). Learn more.
The Napa River Restoration: Oakville to Oak Knoll Project is being developed to restore 9 miles of the Napa River from Oakville Cross Road to Oak Knoll Avenue. This reach is comprised of approximately 70 parcels and 34 different private entities. Historic changes in land use and management in the Napa River watershed have resulted in channel incision with bank failure, erosion of channel bedforms (riffles, bars, pools) important to salmonids, and a limited riparian corridor due to the lack of a functional floodplain. Learn more.
The Napa Valley Historical Ecology Atlas will be a highly visual exploration of the native Napa landscape and its physical transformation over the past two centuries. Using rarely seen historical maps, photographs, and paintings, the Atlas will investigate this remarkable landscape and its contemporary remnants, establishing a new perspective on the iconic region we know today. Learn more.
The Suisun Creek watershed encompasses 53 square miles in Napa and Solano counties. Three major creeks, White Creek, Wooden Valley Creek, and Suisun Creek, drain a watershed of steep, mountainous terrain and several large valleys into the Suisun Marsh and Suisun Bay. Steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a federally listed threatened species, have been found in the three main creeks of the watershed. This watershed has been named one of the primary “anchor” watershed streams with essential habitat for steelhead trout in the Bay area (CEMAR 2007). Learn more.
The Watershed Assessment Framework (WAF), as applied to the Napa River watershed, is a method of reporting on key indicators of watershed health over time to guide watershed management actions. Watershed health is defined broadly, to include ecological, terrestrial, aquatic, water-related, social, and economic measures. The outcomes of this application are an easily understood watershed health Report Card on the health of the Napa River watershed, and more in-depth technical report detailing the process and analysis behind the WAF application and development of the Report Card. Learn more.
The Napa River Rutherford Reach Restoration Project is comprised of a 4.5-mile reach of the mainstem Napa River south of the City of Saint Helena between Zinfandel Lane and the Oakville Cross Road. This reach is comprised of approximately 40 parcels owned and managed by 29 different private entities. Historic changes in land use and management in the Napa River watershed have resulted in confinement of the river into a narrow channel, loss of riparian and wetland habitats, accelerated channel incision and bank erosion, and ongoing channel degradation. Properties along the Rutherford Reach have been subject to bank instability and failure leading to the loss of valuable vineyard land and costly repairs. Learn more.
The Napa County RCD offers the LandSmart for Kids Acorns to Oaks and Youth Stewards programs for middle and high schools throughout Napa County to experience hands-on, place-based, environmental education that is connected to locally significant issues and resources. Learn more.
