Mitigation Projects

River Ranch Wetland Mitigation Bank

The River Ranch Wetlands Mitigation Bank (Bank) is a 114-acre wetland mitigation project that was completed in winter 2014. The Bank site is located near the confluence of the Sacramento and Feather Rivers in Yolo County. The Bank is located within the Sacramento River Ranch which is operated and managed by Wildlands. Sacramento River Ranch is an approximately 4000-acre ranch dedicated to environmentally friendly agriculture. The ranch also includes a fisheries conservation bank, a valley elderberry longhorn beetle conservation bank, and numerous Swainson’s hawk preserves.

The Bank was approved by the Sacramento Regional Interagency Mitigation Bank Review Team (IRT) led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacrament District and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 9 in August 2010. The Bank was awarded 40.48 freshwater marsh credits and 61.19 riparian wetland credits by the IRT. The bank has a service area which includes portions of Yolo, Placer, and Sacramento Counties. This area is incurring high demand for wetland mitigation stemming from the growing Sacramento metropolitan region.

Historically, the site was agricultural fields that were problematic to farm due to dense soils and high ground water. Due to these naturally occurring conditions it was an ideal site for a groundwater driven wetland. The Bank has been designed to provide wetland habitat consisting of a mosaic of jurisdictional riparian scrub and freshwater marsh complex. The site is relatively isolated, surrounded on all sides by compatible, agricultural and/or resource conservation land uses, but also close to the river and similar existing and restored riparian scrub habitat.

The Bank is protected and managed in perpetuity with a permanent conservation easement and non-wasting management endowment both held by non-profit third party entity.

114 acres

Location: Yolo County, California

Mitigation Types

  • Wetland/Waters of the U.S.
  • Riparian

Service Area

Because of the bank’s unique location at the confluence of numerous water shed units, the 10-digit HUC that the bank resides within and all adjacent HUCs were used to create the base of the service area, as shown in the service area map.

Approving Agencies

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
  • U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
  • California Department of Fish & Wildlife

For additional information on the River Ranch Wetland Mitigation Bank, please contact Julie Maddox at (916) 435-3555 or jmaddox@heronpacific.com.