Current Projects

Tulare Basin Wildlife Partners is a science-driven, collaborative organization that uses the most current and complete data to identify priorities and engage significant partners in pursuing its goals. Current five-year, high-priority projects, grouped by watershed, include:

Implementation Phase

Deer Creek Riparian Corridor

• Atwell Island Sustainable Wetland Project: Upgrade Ton Tache Wetland facilities, including: installing a lift pump to move water from the Homeland Canal to the wetland; installing a solar power generating station to ensure an affordable water supply; and reconditioning four wells and pumps.
• Deer Creek/Friant Kern Canal Basin Modification & Environmental Groundwater Banking Project, Phase 2-4: Enhance and expand existing habitat and restore a more natural hydrologic regime to the area; develop public outreach and recreational opportunities; and create a watershed-wide resource management plan to coordinate resources and efforts between local, state, and federal entities, as well as other interested parties.

Kern River Riparian Corridor

• Goose Lake Ephemeral Lake Conservation: Protect 4,100 acres in Goose Lake, including creating a new California Department of Fish & Game Wildlife Area, to conserve pristine grassland, shrubland, marshes & streams in the Tulare Basin’s last ephemeral lake.

Planning Phase

Deer Creek Riparian Corridor

• University of California Natural Reserve Research Station in the Tulare Basin: Establish a research station on the 8,000-acre Atwell Island Project to inform conservation and resource management about the effects of climate change on flora and fauna; upland, wetland, and riparian ecosystems; and salinization of agricultural lands.
• White River – Allensworth Ecological Reserve Rehabilitation & Flood Control: Design a 4,000-acre flood control system that will protect important upland habitat for endangered wildlife, the town of Allensworth, and Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.

Kern River Riparian Corridor

• Goose Lake Wetlands Reserve Program Residual Value Purchase: Conserve 4,100 acres in Goose Lake by providing a secure water supply for wetlands and public recreational benefits via duck clubs on private land.

Kings River Riparian Corridor

• Kings River Valley Oak Restoration: Restore 6,000 acres with valley oak riparian woodland, broadening the existing floodplain vegetation; provide flood control, groundwater recharge, and recreational opportunities.

Fresno Slough, Deer Creek, and Kern River Riparian Corridors

• Finding Conservation Buyers for NRCS Wetland Easements: Identify and partner with conservation buyers to manage 15,000 acres of wetlands on lands protected through NRCS Wetland Reserve Program easements.

Poso Creek Riparian Corridor

• West-East Pintail Slough: Construct a water facility and 7-mile conveyance system to enhance historical seasonal wetlands that benefit migratory water birds and shorebirds. 

• Semitropic Water Storage District Poso Creek Detention Ponds & Upland Enhancement: Restore 320 acres of native habitat; manage sediment deposition in detention ponds.

• Semitropic Water Storage District, Pond-Poso Spreading Grounds Habitat “Bench” Management: Restore terraced “benches” surrounding 780 acres of recharge basins to native upland habitat; provide sites for spreading pond expansion on 640 acres.