Habitat Restoration

Habitat restoration is a key sustainable practice as we seek to align ourselves with natural/ecological cycles. In the Mojave Desert several stakeholders have come together on a riparian restoration project that helps balance the importance of this critical Cottonwood and Willow habitat at the Mojave head waters in Victorville with the a growing this High Desert population’s thirst for water from this aquifer with the importance of this water supply to the economic health of this Southern California community.

The key is collaboration between the stakeholders that bring much needed resources and skills to the process.  This experimental trial was designed by Dr Ken Liar of the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS); the Mojave Desert Resource Conservation District (RCD) provided the management and coordination of the project; Victor Valley College’s Agriculture and Natural Resource Department and the Lewis center for Educational Research provided educational support and the two sites for the trial; California State University’s Water Resource Institute funded an Intern and the Mojave Water Agency (MWA) provided the funding and hydrological research.

The project is a continuation of the MWA’s and RCD’s long-term quest to eradicate the thirsty and habitat destroying invasive weed Salt Cedar (Tamarix ramosissima) shrub from the upper Mojave watershed.

Tamarix ramosissima