Lower Deer Creek Restoration and Flood Management Plan

Valley Creeks for Salmon

In 2022, FlowWest completed the Environmental Impact Report for the Lower Deer Creek Flood and Ecosystem Improvement Project (linked below). Deer Creek is one of only four Central Valley watersheds that support populations of spring-run Chinook salmon, and is also prone to damaging flooding that impacts farmland and infrastructure approximately every 5 to 10 years. The EIR evaluated the impacts of a suite of flood protection and ecosystem enhancement actions along the lower eight miles of Deer Creek, and identified a preferred, multi-benefit project that would restore the design flood protection level of the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) levee system on Lower Deer Creek.

Interdisciplinary Approach to Conservation

The proposed project would also create up to 43 acres of new seasonally inundated floodplain rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids. In addition, the proposed project would restore flood conveyance capacity and fish passage in China Slough, a remnant distributary channel from Deer Creek. These flood and ecosystem improvements were all developed in collaboration with local landowners along the creek to complement and sustain the agricultural livelihoods along the creek. Additonally, FlowWest leveraged their in-house data science team to build an interactive project description tool (linked below). This open-source application was used throughout the project process to share information with the community, regulatory agencies, and other interested parties. This application also included a novel way of sharing hydrodynamic and habitat suitability modeling results. FlowWest strives to develop engaging, accessible ways to learn about their important work.