California Process-Based Restoration Network

OAEC’s WATER Institute has joined forces with a team of other natural resource professionals, agencies and organizations to launch the California Process-based Restoration (Cal PBR) Network. In contrast to form-based restoration, which often requires high costs and fossil fuel inputs, process-based restoration uses simple, low-cost techniques like adding woody debris that mimic beaver dams to riverscapes. PBR harnesses the system’s natural energy to do most of the restoration “work.”

The goals of the Cal PBR Network are to provide a collaborative voice in support of these process-based restoration approaches to restore degraded ecosystems and build California’s resiliency to drought, wildfire and climate change. It’s been amazing to see how quickly this open-source network has become a lively hub of information exchange, cross-discipline dialogue and collaboration! In 2023, the Network co-convened two very successful trainings geared toward practitioners interested in gaining hands-on experience and honing their technical expertise at a watershed scale. In the fall of 2023, OAEC’s Kate Lundquist and Brock Dolman served as instructors for Cal PBR’s “Build Like a Beaver” workshop in Yellow Creek in Plumas County, which focused on PBR design, permitting and implementation. Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, OAEC was also able to provide funding for Tribal members to participate in the workshop.