Creating the Laguna Creek Complex
Today, Laguna Creek is a complex, diverse riparian landscape with thriving neighborhoods on either side. Twenty years ago, it was a farm ditch with a number of small vernal pools scattered in the heavily grazed adjacent fields. Working for the City of Sacramento, we mapped the wetland boundaries in these fields, using high-resolution, infrared aerial photography and a variety of other techniques to define wetland boundaries that had been complicated by years of farming. The Corps approved our final map and then our redesign of the creek system, which broadened and deepened the Creek to provide local flood protection while also allowing us to restore vernal pools and riparian woodlands to the landscape.