Plumas Corp

03/26/2026

Our team got out in the field to observe spring runoff on the recently constructed McKenzie Meadows Project! 🌱💧

The visit focused on project performance monitoring. We loved seeing the sheet flow on the meadow surface 😍

03/16/2026

Plumas Corp is seeking a Forest & Watershed Restoration Project Manager to help lead post-wildfire forest and watershed recovery projects. The full-time position is based in Quincy, CA. Applications are due March 30, 2026.

03/16/2026

Plumas Corp is seeking a Forest & Watershed Restoration Project Manager to help lead post-wildfire forest and watershed recovery projects. The full-time position is based in Quincy, CA. Applications are due March 30, 2026. Learn more at plumascorp.org

03/02/2026

Warm weather and rain after snow means high flows. Darrel, Kylan, and Jeanie measured high flows on Indian Creek with the bridge crane to help calibrate our continuous recording stream flow monitoring system.

02/25/2026

For all of you who think water is important. The first significant period of precipitation for the Feather River watershed since the Xmas storms is winding down. Starting with some dynamic snows that blanketed the area and finishing with very warm & moist, but not dynamic, atmospheric river. The 48-hour rainfall map from CNRFC shows an example of orographic (uplift) enhancement and rain shadowing. The west slope orographic totals (purple bubbles) peak with 7.48 inches at Letterbox west of Bucks Lake. The eastern, rain-shadowed portion (green bubbles) with 0.48 inches at Antelope Lake illustrate the sometimes extreme disparities in precipitation in the Feather River watershed. The stream gauge hydrographs buttress this phenomenon. Indian Creek, with 3X the basin area, but mostly the green bubbles has a similar peak flow to Spanish Creek with mostly blue bubbles. When an air mass has more dynamics (energy) the differences from west to east diminish considerably and the difference in peak flows between Indian and Spanish increase commensurately. If this is clear as mud, let us know.

02/19/2026

Check out how Project Manager Jeanie Hinds quickly stepped in to help the AVCSD protect wastewater infrastructure from erosion in Spanish Creek due to a fallen Cottonwood.

Plumas Corp reports that quick action last month helped protect American Valley Community Service District’s Quincy-area wastewater infrastructure.

02/02/2026

Pennsylvania Phil has his day on Feb 1. Today (Feb. 2) is World Wetland Day. Let's hear it for montane wet meadows.

01/14/2026

It's been a good while since a Plumas Corp post. Our apologies and we'll try to be more "social". The Holiday period had lots of fun weather to parse out. By going on vacation, I was only able to experience it vicariously through data. The first storm series met optimistic expectations (12- 20 inches of water in 6 days) in central Plumas County for the Christmas week. Similar to what was received in 1997. Why not the same major flood? Multiple factors feed into the streamflow (hydrologic) response to large storms. In 1997, watershed soils were fully saturated, with substantial wet snow on the ground at all elevations and streamflows already elevated when the storm began. This resulted in virtually all rainfall, plus melting snow, being available for immediate runoff at all elevations. Conversely, the recent Christmas week storm started with drier soil conditions (good initial infiltration) and no appreciable snow at any elevation. Additionally, the highest rain intensity and volume occurred early in the period, allowing the dry soils to buffer runoff, while snow levels gradually drop toward the end. The contrast; a 100-year flood (1997) vs. a 5-yr flood (2025) in what were essentially 10-year storms. Yes, storm magnitude and flood magnitude are not the same for all of the above and still other factors. The Indian Creek and Spanish Creek stream gage hydrographs for that period illustrate much, being just over and just under 5,000 cubic feet per second, respectively. In 1997, the same two stations were 40,000 and 22,100 cfs, respectively. One last factoid: the flow amount at 1 cubic foot per second is equivalent to 449 gallons per minute.

07/10/2025

On June 25th we posted a series of photos tracking the progression of a project through construction, using the Thompson Meadow Restoration Project. It is every bit as important to understand the level of participation and collaboration involved in getting any project to fruition. On July 8th, a subset of Thompson Meadow partners visited the project to observe the change, view the science and strategize next steps, CA Dept. of Water Resources, Plumas National Forest, Plumas Corp, Sierra Nevada Conservancy and the State Water Contractors. Other partners not present were the CA Wildlife Conservation Board, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Bass Pro Shop/Cabelas, Point Blue Conservation Science, and local public land stakeholders. Our hats are off to all those who engage in natural resource projects, here and throughout the region. The work does not happen without you!!

07/01/2025

On Wednesday, June 25, we monitored the older 2013 Yellow Creek pond & plug project Plumas Corporation built in Tásmam Kojóm (aka Humbug Valley). Watching these projects mature through time is what allows us, as practitioners, to better represent these landscapes to stakeholders and potential restoration options. This project in particular has been subject to the 2017 floods, burned in the 2021 Dixie Fire, and in 2023, was the site of the first beaver reintroduction in California in many decades thanks to a joint effort by the Mountain Maidu and Ca. Dept of Fish & Wildlife.
These photos are from the county road box culvert at the downstream end of the project. It is the only functional photo-point remaining that isn't blocked by vegetation or is inaccessible. The pre- photo was taken in May, 2013; the post construction in Nov. 2013; then June, 2019; Sept., 2021 post-Dixie; and last week. For you keen-eyed followers, yes there is less water in the channel now. That is because the beaver have shifted ~75% of the flow to the left side of the valley, out of the camera view. They own this project now!

06/19/2025

Often folks wonder what "meadow restoration" looks like. These four pictures, taken from the same vantage point, illustrate a degraded meadow with a deeply cut channel with restoration work undertaken in 2022. These photos are from the Thompson Meadow project from just prior to construction in August, 2022, during/immediately after construction, and its condition yesterday June 18, 2025. By eliminating the deep channel, stream flow and shallow groundwater are reconnected to the original meadow floodplain, rejuvenating the native meadow vegetation and all that relies on it.

04/28/2025

Plumas Corp participated in our local Earth Day event last week with a booth highlighting our watershed work and live bugs from Spanish Creek demonstrating the importance and relationship of macroinvertebrates to water quality. Senior Executive Advisor, Jim Wilcox, spoke on the importance of our connection to the land and giving back to the earth.

Later in the week, staff took their kids and a volunteer out to Thompson Meadow Restoration Project to plant willows for habitat and erosion control. They discovered a pair of cranes likely scouting a nesting site in the meadow and a marmot inhabiting the rock outcrop above the grade control structure! A day of restoration fun celebrating the 55th Anniversary of Earth Day was had by all!

At Plumas Corp, we celebrate Earth Day every day!!