Upper Dotta Meadow in the California’s Sierra Nevada Mountains area was once a vibrant wetland meadow ecosystem with healthy streams and rich wildlife habitat containing robust trout populations and diverse bird species. However, historical land use practices and water diversion created dewatered meadow ecosystems. Retained water is no longer adequate to maintain stream levels and support habitat for trout, birds and other wildlife.

In partnership with the nonprofit Plumas Corporation, this project will help restore water within this 253-acre critically dewatered meadow ecosystem.

Scientific evidence derived from similar past restoration projects also indicates that the restoration of the meadow ecosystems will sequester carbon. The Upper Dotta Meadow project is on track to monitor increases in carbon stocks and will estimate how much additional carbon is sequestered by this project.

Project results provide both carbon reduction and water restoration benefits. The project was initiated in 2013, and monitoring is currently in place to measure and showcase positive impacts on trout, water quality, vegetative recovery, bird species diversity and carbon sequestration.