By Zoe Sophia Carrillo, age 12
Dos Rios is a new state park in Central Valley, Calif., the first of its kind in more than a decade. All the park’s plants and trees are native. Dos Rios—or Two Rivers in English—is named after the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers that meet up near the end of the park. However, this park is not like others. Dos Rios is a park that’s supposed to flood, because it is a natural floodplain.
A floodplain is flood-prone land that is usually around bodies of water such as streams, lakes, and rivers. It helps to contain water from floods or rainstorms. Before Dos Rios was created, the floodplain’s natural habitat was destroyed to make room for farmland. During the spring, the snow from the Sierra mountains melts. The water gets into the two rivers, which causes them to overflow. Floods were frequent in the area, destroying crops and even homes. River Partners, a nonprofit organization, played an essential role in restoring the floodplain into what Dos Rios Park is today. In 2008, they bought the land from a farming family. “This place is reducing flood risk for downstream communities by absorbing floodwaters as they pour out of the Sierra Nevadas,” conservationist Julie Rentner told NPR.
In addition to protecting nearby communities, floodplains can reduce the spread of waterborne diseases by filtering water. This process happens by slowing down floodwater through wetland vegetation within their root systems. Filtering water can help keep people from getting sick by trapping harmful pollutants and settling them out of the water. Not only that, but floodplains can minimize the intensity of the aftermath of a flood or rainstorm. They also combat climate change by pulling and capturing carbon out of the atmosphere. During this process, plants nearby can also capture carbon, leading to growth and healthier plants. Floodplains also help to replenish groundwater. Water from the floods is stored in the soil, which is essential for things like drinking water and putting out fires.
Floodplains are biodiverse, which benefits different species of plants and animals to thrive. Dos Rios also provides a way to protect the animals. Some protected species living in the park include mammals such as riparian brush rabbits, birds like Swainson’s hawks, and many different species of fish, like Chinook salmon.
Having a new unique park can encourage people to go outside and enjoy nature by trying activities such as kayaking and hiking. The new park benefits not only tourists but Native communities, as well. The River Partners team played a role in allowing Indigenous peoples to gather plants in the park to benefit their communities. The vegetation in the park is used by Indigenous tribes for medicinal and cultural practices, as well.
With the success of the park and great benefits to all living beings, there are plans to create similar parks in the future. “We’ve done the planning, we’ve done the mapping,” Rentner told NPR. “We’re thinking about doing 10 more Dos Rioses just in the next decade. Maybe more.”
