The English Meadows Floodplain Enhancement and Restoration Project is located in the headwaters of the Middle Yuba River approximately 35 miles northwest of Truckee, within Sierra and Nevada counties. Shaped by historic dam construction, hydraulic mining, grazing, and timber harvest, the meadow and surrounding forest have experienced channel incision, floodplain disconnection, conifer encroachment, and reduced wetland function. The project is designed to restore hydrologic connectivity between the river and its floodplain, increase seasonal water storage within the meadow aquifer, reduce sediment delivery to Jackson Meadows Reservoir, enhance habitat for meadow-dependent species, and improve forest health and wildfire resilience through targeted conifer removal and fuels reduction. These actions will slow and spread high flows across the meadow, promote riparian recovery, increase snow retention and surface runoff, and support long-term watershed function and ecological resilience.
JNA Consulting prepared the California Environmental Quality Act Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project and successfully secured the following regulatory authorizations: California Department of Fish and Wildlife Lake and Streambed Alteration Agreement, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit, and a California State Water Resources Control Board Section 401 Water Quality Certification. Through environmental review, permitting, and agency coordination, JNA is proud to support this multi-benefit restoration effort, which is improving the watershed processes, water supply reliability, habitat conditions, and forest resilience in the upper Middle Yuba River Basin.
Project implementation and initial ecological benefits are featured in a video prepared by the Nevada Irrigation District, available here: