Protecting Wildlife by Reducing Debris Flows in Park Fire Burn Scar
Chico Corpsmembers pass each other rocks as they move the naturally present material into place to create catch basins to filter water and mud flows from directly entering Big Chico Creek.
In the wake of the destructive Park Fire, the CCC Chico Center mobilized protect Big Chico Creek.
The crews joined a small army of organizations at Big Chico Creek Ecological Reserve, including Mechoopda Indian Tribe, Butte County Resource Conservation District, Butte County Fire Safe Council and the City of Chico.
The goal: use native rocks to build structures to prevent sediment from flowing into the creek.
With so much charred acreage, loose dirt when combined with rainfall could lead to large amounts of sediment inundating Big Chico Creek. By building these structures, Corpsmembers helped filter out contaminants and an onslaught of mud from negatively impacting the creek and the wildlife who use it.
“We’re trying to stop [ash and sediment] from going into the creek, and protecting our watershed”
Sussy Barron
CCC Chico Center
