2024 Update!
Arundo Removal is in Full Swing for Summer
With the help of the Resilience Force crew, we have ramped up our Arundo removal for the summer season. The Arundo Removal Project aims to eradicate Arundo donax, an invasive, fire-prone, water hog plant that can turn fire-calming riverbanks into fire accelerators.
We’re working in the section of the river that wraps around Fitch Mountain where Arundo poses the greatest threat to people. Arundo consumes up to 7 million gallons per acre which we need to keep in our river. This section of the river is the tail end of the upper Russian River where water scarcity is an issue. Arundo also displaces critical native plants and trees along the Russian River. No trees mean no birds and a significant loss of biodiversity. We’re happy to report in areas where we’d removed Arundo in late 2022, we saw the return of native plants and trees once surrounded by Arundo showing new vitality. So far in 2024, we removed roughly 42 acres of Arundo, and we hope to remove another 24 acres this summer as we work into more difficult terrain. That’s 462 million gallons of water saved and a major reduction of wildfire fuel.
We had a productive winter work season even with the frequent rains halting our work. The Arundo Removal Project benefitted again from a collaboration with our friends at Healdsburg Noon Rotary and Rotary District 5130. Norm Fujita with Healdsburg Noon Rotary partnered with Barbara McChesney, environment leader for Rotary District 5130 to create three volunteer Arundo removal events. Rotarians and high school age Interact Club members from Sebastopol, Santa Rosa, South Ukiah, Windsor, and other clubs joined students from Healdsburg High and Windsor High and Riverkeeper staff to tackle Arundo in the “bridges” section of the river this winter. Sonoma County Regional Parks provided parking for all the events and has been a great supporter of the project. Fitch Mountain Association, not to be outdone, organized a stewardship workgroup to focus on Arundo and help neighbors who aren’t able to cut and haul out Arundo. We are fortunate to have such great community support for the Russian River and the Arundo Removal Project.
Currently, we are working with a 12-person crew focusing on the area downstream of Memorial Beach Dam. In the last ten years, this area has experienced numerous fires in Arundo stands and this work will help reduce fire ignitions along the river. We recently received a grant to train additional workers in fire prevention and will be cycling through new workers so they can gain experience this summer. Through July, we’ll be working around the Syar Plant, Kennedy Lane, and near the train and auto bridge by Memorial Beach Regional Park.
2023 Update!
The State Coastal Conservancy Board of Directors voted recently to provide a $989,000 grant to Riverkeeper’s Arundo removal project! This grant will cover 70% of the project costs over the next 4 years to reduce fire danger and water loss from invasive Arundo donax.
This grant is a big boost to increasing the pace of the project with additional workers. The grant requires that we raise 30% of costs from local donors so we’ll be seeking donations to provide those local matching funds. For every dollar local donors provide the grant will add three to fully fund the project to remove Arundo on 5 miles of the Russian River, so your donations are magnified by state funds.
Click here to donate today or you can mail checks to Russian Riverkeeper P.O. Box 1335 Healdsburg, CA 95448.
The Arundo removal project is part of the Healdsburg and surrounding Area Fuel Reduction Project led by the Healdsburg Fire Department to reduce fire danger. Two projects are conducting forest thinning on Fitch Mountain and Healdsburg Ridge and the third is removing arundo from the river corridor. Riverkeeper is managing the arundo removal part of the project, leveraging our decades of experience with invasive plant removal projects. Although this project is occurring in Healdsburg, it will benefit the ecology of the entire river by reducing water losses and the fire potential, which both affect the entire river system’s health.
Arundo on fire along the river.
Since Arundo is growing throughout the watershed, arundo removal by Mendocino RCD and Sonoma RCD in upstream parts of the river help reduce the propagation of new plants downstream. The Fitch Mountain and Healdsburg areas of the river were identified as the highest potential fire hazard along the river due to wind patterns and the high density of Arundo coupled with narrow roads and difficult evacuation routes.
For those new to Arundo donax, it is a non-native invasive plant imported by Spaniards in the 1800s. It looks like bamboo and is also called Giant Reed or Spanish Grass and is actually a member of the grass family of plants. It grows up to 30 feet tall in dense clumps with lots of dead and dry canes. Arundo is one of the most flammable plants in California that is built to burn with a vertical structure and hollow stems that allow a plentiful oxygen supply to feed a fire. Arundo ignites quickly and burns very hot, hot enough to melt the boots of firefighters that are heat resistant! Arundo is also a water hog capable of taking up to seven million gallons of water per acre every year. That is far more water than water-dependent willows and harms our river in dry years.
Arundo also displaces native plants that provide homes and food to native wildlife and birds. Arundo often surrounds and kills the tall trees along the river such as cottonwoods or walnut trees that birds need for roosting. In Southern California where arundo dominates many streams, there are few trees along streams so fewer birds and other wildlife. In the areas we have found arundo in the last year, we do not find any signs of wildlife from spiders to birds to mammals. Arundo does not offer any of the food sources that birds can’t use since it has no branches to roost in or build a nest upon.
As we continue to work on the Arundo Removal project stay tuned for future newsletter updates and Thank you to our donors who make this work possible!