How this tiny town was saved by America’s newest state park – and why it’s set to boom

The future of a small California town has been secured thanks to the opening of a brand new State Park that opened earlier this week.

Dos Rios State Park in the Central Valley is a floodplain restoration initiative that has returned farmland to its natural state.

The park is less than five miles from Grayson, a small farming community of just 1,600 residents that is slowly coming back to life.

The largely Latino city is so poor that children played soccer in the cemetery until a community center was built in 2005.

But now restoration efforts to turn the dairy farm land back into the wild have already proven effective in protecting Grayson from flooding – and it is likely that more visitors will be drawn to the area as the beautiful nature returns.

The project, which started in 2002, makes Dos Rios State Park the first state park to open in 10 years, making it California’s 281st.

Approximately 13 federal, state and local agencies have been involved in the $40 million transformation.

“This is a place to experience the world at home,” California State Parks Director Armando Quintero said Wednesday during the opening ceremony.

The 1,600-acre parcel in the San Joaquin Valley is located in the floodplain near Modesto, where the San Joaquin and Tuolumne rivers meet.

Many believe that restoring farmland to the natural floodplain saved the community of Grayson from destruction when floods hit the area in 2023.

Advocates for floodplain restoration say it could help solve the dual dangers of flooding and drought in California, replenishing groundwater for future drought relief while protecting cities from the catastrophic flooding that scientists predict will occur. will be associated with climate change.

“It performed exactly as planned,” said Julie Rentner, president of the nonprofit River Partners, which purchased the land from private owners and revitalized much of the natural landscape, releasing floodwaters once trapped by levees , could swing over it. the plain, recharging the aquifer below.

“It was really scary, man, that river coming up all that time. But all that work we did, planting here, I think it did help with the water,” said David Guzman, who lives along the San Joaquin River.

It is impossible to say with certainty that the floodplains saved Grayson. Years of drought had also robbed the river of its fury. But some experts say floodplain restoration could help spare neighboring towns.

In 2010, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission contributed $2 million to purchase the park, recognizing that the land would also help protect water quality for San Francisco.

In the past there was no way to access the land, but now the park has become a haven for locals.

‘Many of my residents do not have the opportunity to leave the area. Everyone I talk to – and I talk to everyone – wants to know how they can enjoy coming here,” Lilia Lomeli-Gil shared. SFGate. “I tell them it’s still in its early stages.”

The park is also vital for wildlife, especially during the winter months when millions of geese, ducks and cranes migrate along the Pacific Flyway – a major north-south route for migratory birds in the Americas, stretching from Alaska to Patagonia.

Currently Dos Rios is only open on weekends by reservation, but there are plans to introduce a host of nature activities including swimming, fishing and boating, along with routes for cycling and birdwatching.

Several campsites could even be developed on the land, possibly replacing an almond orchard – a place where people can reconnect with nature.

Visitors can still explore the almond orchards up close, while a new welcome center offers a picnic area under wooden shelters built from trees salvaged from a 2020 wildfire.

Tours of the park are also available led by a State Parks representative.

The park is lined with white seed hairs of eastern cottonwood trees, allowing visitors to experience a serene escape.

“There could be more services, but we live here in the middle of these orchards,” said John Mataka, 73, a retired drug and alcohol counselor and one of the restoration volunteers.

He said those who donated their labor and time to the project that day were “laughing and having fun. It gave the community a sense of importance.”