OAKLEY — As part of the latest push to restore the ailing Delta, a 646-acre wheat and corn farm here is expected one day to metamorphose into a recreational and habitat oasis complete with kayak launches, hiking trails and a home for endangered species.
The area, off the Byron Highway between Oakley and Brentwood, will provide a launch spot to explore the Delta, as well as trails for hikers. The East Bay Regional Park District paid $6.1 million in late January to buy the land for the project, which is likely to cost millions more to carry out over many years.
Park officials say this is the first time the 82-year-old agency has purchased this kind of land to create the core of a new park.
“It will go from irrigated cropland to what it was like when it was shoreline in the Delta,” said Abby Fateman, executive director of the East Contra Costa County Habitat Conservancy, a habitat-protection agency that is a partner in the effort. “This is a big project for us.”
In a northern area where cows have grazed, remains of ancient windblown sand dunes may be cleared of vegetation and rebuilt so the rare silvery legless lizard can slither again along the water.
In southern areas, where garlic and wheat grow, a levee along No Name Slough may be breached to let tidal waters fan out over the land. The shallow water could benefit wild fish such as the endangered Delta smelt, as well as the rare giant garter snake, which grows to more than 5 feet in length.
Planting trees there would provide perching and nesting spots for the Swainson’s hawk, which likes to swoop over marsh areas to scout for prey.
Winter runoff from the nearby rural community of Knightsen also would be collected by the project to reduce flooding risks to homes there.
Farming will continue for at least two years while studies and planning are done to come up with a restoration plan.
Few Delta habitation-restoration projects have been done in recent years, but that is about to change.
The state’s Natural Resources Agency has a goal of restoring or improving some 30,000 acres of Delta habitat in the next three years or so for its California EcoRestore initiative.
Several Delta restoration projects are being planned by state and federal water contractors to meet regulatory demands to offset the impact of Delta water diversions on fish and wildlife, said David Okita, the Natural Resource Agency’s habitat-restoration coordinator.
“The idea is to make areas much friendlier to fish like salmon and endangered Delta smelt, and in some areas wild birds and other species” he said. “They are expensive projects, and they involve a lot of planning.”
In February, the state awarded a $240,000 state grant to hire experts to survey natural resources on the land that will become the Delta Water Access Regional Park.
The conservancy, a partnership of cities to offset development impacts, is joining forces with the park district to plan and oversee the restoration. The conservancy leads in planning the habitat improvements, while the park district takes the lead in planning recreation.
“This is an excellent opportunity to protect habitat and provide for public recreation in an area where it has been hard for us to acquire land,” said Liz Musbach, the park district’s land-acquisition chief. “It’s our goal to increase recreation access to the Delta, so people can visit and appreciate this very special place.”
Once a vast inland swamp with runoff from the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, the low-lying area was reclaimed in the 1800s to form a maze of farm islands and waterways.
The park property bought from farmer Ron Nunn is along the edge of the Delta on land that used to flood periodically.
“It was on the rim of the tub,” said Nunn, a longtime Brentwood-area grower. “Having the park district acquire it is not a bad use for it.”
With highly alkaline soil in many areas, much of the Nunn property is marginal for farming but well-suited to recreating conditions for wildlife.
Officials say the new Delta park will not be all land or all water but a mixture.
“We expect a mosaic of different habitats there to provide for different species, ” Fateman said.
As for public recreation, park officials say building a new kayak launch area would give paddlers a good place begin trips to explore Delta sloughs and rivers.
Paddlers could make water trips from the park to the Big Break Regional Shoreline east of Antioch.
“You could have continuous paddling trips between our two parks,” Musbach said. “This could be an important water highway on the Delta.”
