New state park in Stanislaus could open next year, plus other updates from Dos Rios
A state park could open by summer 2023 at the Dos Rios Ranch riverside preserve, 10 miles southwest of Modesto.
That update came Friday from Armando Quintero, director of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. He was among numerous leaders celebrating 10 years of floodplain restoration where the Tuolumne River meets the San Joaquin.
The 2022-23 state budget earmarked $5 million for park planning and some construction, such as trails, picnic tables, parking and restrooms. Future funding could bring a campground, boat ramp and other attractions, with a cost and timeline yet to be determined.
The state park will occupy just part of the 2,100 acres at Dos Rios and will not intrude on sensitive habitat. About $46 million has gone into purchasing former farm fields and planting them with native trees, brush and grass. Levees have been modified in some spots to let high flows spread.
The nonprofit River Partners has carried out the work with help from the Tuolumne River Trust and several federal, state and local agencies. The restored plains ease flood pressure on downstream towns while recharging groundwater and sustaining wildlife.
‘Tell the water stories’
Quintero said the new state park would fit with the Newsom administration’s goal of increasing recreation spots in underserved areas. Dos Rios also would provide “refugia” for residents as summers get hotter, he said.
“It also is a perfect place to tell the water stories of California,” Quintero said. He noted that the Tuolumne runs about 150 miles from 13,000-foot glaciers in Yosemite National Park to the San Joaquin.
Quintero also visited Dos Rios in May to announce that Gov. Gavin Newsom had proposed the $5 million. He said Friday that the department plans meetings in the Modesto area on what people would like to see at the park. It will be the first regular access to the site.
Quintero saw how Dos Rios grows some of the plants used for millennia by Indigenous people. He said he would promote that idea elsewhere in the park system.
The 200-plus attendees heard a lunch-time blessing from Kimberly Stevenot, co-founder of the California Indian Basketweavers Association. She spoke in English and the Miwok language of her Calaveras County ancestors:
“Our people followed the river together to gather together. We gather today from the east, the west, the south, the north, to take care of land that was created to take care of us.”
Stevenot said the Dos Rios area long served as a meeting place for Miwok, Yokut, Costanoan and other peoples in what is now Central California.
Forest primeval is scant
Only about 5% of the San Joaquin Valley’s riparian forest remained after European-Americans diverted the rivers and planted crops. Restoration projects will bring a modest amount back while easing conflicts between water suppliers and environmentalists.
The state’s $97 billion surplus allowed an unprecedented investment in conservation projects of various types. Some of it aims to capture the carbon involved in climate change, including the fast-growing cottonwoods and other trees at Dos Rios.
Wade Crowfoot, resources secretary for Newsom, spoke Friday about balancing the needs of people and wildlife. He oversees water, fire management and other areas along with parks.
Dos Rios, he said, “is going to be inviting residents from the San Joaquin Valley that don’t have enough parks, that don’t have enough recreation space.”
Dos Rios will be the 280th park in the state system and the second entirely within Stanislaus County. The other is Turlock Lake State Recreation Area, closed for now for lack of a concessionaire.
The county has a portion of Coe State Park in the southwestern hills. Caswell and Hatfield state parks lie just across rivers bordering the county.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
