This fall, Brock Dolman, WATER Institute Co-Director, took the Fuels to Flows Campaign on tour across California to share how holistic, process-based restoration builds watershed resilience while reducing the risk of catastrophic fire.
With the campaign rolling, Brock shared talks and workshops at the Localizing California Waters Conference, Build Like a Beaver Training, Permaculture Institute of North America, the Eastern Sierra Land Trust, and Sonoma County Ag + Open Space to inspire systems-thinking that transforms siloed fuel load reduction practices into holistic systems that consider fire, water, and carbon cycles together.
Brock’s presentation: “From Fuels to Flows and Designing in Disaster: Bioregional Wisdom for Regenerative Response”, was a highlight at the Disaster Regeneration Summit hosted by the Permaculture Institute of North America
Brock has been sharing Fuels to Flows strategies since long before the campaign launch. A newly launched video from a Sonoma County Ag + Open Space training, highlights two years of holistic fuel load reduction trainings. A coalition of crews practiced diverse fuels treatments such as forest thinning, prescribed grazing and fire, and gully stuffing— as taught by OAEC.
Brock shared Fuels to Flows techniques in a recent workforce development program hosted by Sonoma County Ag. + Open Space. We were honored to work alongside many collaborators: Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District, Ecological Solutions, Sonoma Ecology Center, and the dedicated crews—North Bay Jobs with Justice, Conservation Corps North Bay, and Circuit Rider Community Services,
Gully stuffing, a favorite process-based restoration technique for upland streams, is just one of many in the Fuels to Flows toolkit. This practice considers fire and water together by reincorporating biomass from fuel load reduction back into the watershed. This promotes water infiltration and stops erosion in sensitive upland ecosystems.
After a season on tour, the WATER Institute is inspired by the practitioners, agency partners, forest health, and vegetation management professionals who are ready to join the Fuels to Flows movement and advance nature-based solutions at the nexus of fire and water.
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