Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page.

Newsletter of the San Joaquin River Conservancy

San Joaquin River Conservancy's

River Broadcast

The Conservancy is a regionally governed agency created to develop and manage the San Joaquin River Parkway, a planned 22-mile natural and recreational area in the floodplain extending from Friant Dam to Highway 99. The Conservancy’s mission includes: acquiring approximately 5,900 acres from willing sellers; developing, operating, and managing those lands for public access and recreation; and protecting, enhancing, and restoring riparian and floodplain habitat. For more information, visit our web site, or see our 2018 San Joaquin River Parkway Master Plan Update ,

Welcome to the River Broadcast

This is the initial kick off for the San Joaquin River Conservancy’s Newsletter, The River Broadcast. Our intent is to keep our stakeholders informed of on-going activities, facilities, and hopefully interesting notes about the San Joaquin River, the Conservancy, and our region.  It is worthwhile to touch basis with the San Joaquin River Parkway Master Plan so that we keep the values in mind as we move forward.

From our Master Plan:

The values held in common in developing the Parkway are:

• The natural environment must be respected, cared for, and conserved;
• Water resources are extremely important to any community;
• Experiences in nature invigorate, refresh, instill wonder, and educate;
• Outdoor activities contribute to individuals’ health and well-being;
• The community deserves and needs broadly available, convenient public access to open spaces and parks;
• The Parkway must benefit the public and serve all constituencies effectively, efficiently, and equitably, to maximize the common good;
• The community must be involved in and have the opportunity to influence Parkway development; and
• The Parkway will preserve natural areas and open spaces for the benefit of generations to come.

The Parkway represents a partnership among state and local, government and private, business, tourism, homeowner, and environmental interests.

Many of the Conservancy's Properties are Now OPEN for Recreational Use

By statute and through our Master Plan, the Conservancy is not allowed to formally open our properties to the public until we can operate and maintain those areas.

Public Resources Code 32511: “The conservancy shall be responsible for operation and maintenance of the parkway. The conservancy shall close to the public any lands or facilities which it is unable to maintain in a clean and safe manner and to adequately protect the wildlife and rights of adjacent property owners from the public, including areas downstream from the Highway 99 crossing affected by the use of the parkway.”

We have not had funding, nor personnel, to enable us to maintain most of our properties in past years.  Our operations funding mostly allowed us to fund our Board meetings and address vandalism and related issues.  We have had our “little hidden gem”, Wildwood Native Park, open three days a week all year, and were able to have a concessionaire agreement for Sycamore Island for which gate fees covered operations and most of the usual maintenance.  In regards to personnel, there are only three of us, and none of our classifications cover the ability to focus time on maintenance activities. So, most of our properties were not formally open since we could not afford to operate and maintain them.

The Conservancy has not asked law enforcement agencies to enforce trespassing laws in the last three years.  The primary reason for this is that local law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to expand on this sort of infraction. As this informal policy has become known to the public, many of our properties have developed a significant number of regular users.  Staff has encouraged use by those who appear to be responsible for their actions and potentially would help report users that could damage the properties, facilities, harm habitat for wildlife, or otherwise be an issue. 

The Conservancy’s budget had a major change last year.  We received an additional $15 million for operations and maintenance (O&M) that we can encumber over three fiscal years (July 1 to June 30) and expend over five fiscal years. If split evenly over the full five years, that is ten times our previous budget for O&M.  So now that we have the funding that makes proper O&M possible, we can formally open those properties that have had informal use for the last few years.  We’ll also be able to increase our operations at the properties that have had three days per week operations (Sycamore Island, Van Buren, and Wildwood Native Park) to seven days a week.

See below for more...

San Joaquin River Parkway

The Conservancy owns 20 properties along the San Joaquin River.

San Joaquin River Conservancy's Lands

At our February 2022 Board meeting, staff was permitted to put together a “Request for Proposals” (RFP) to operate Sycamore Island and the Van Buren Properties seven days per week, a change from three days per week.  We also asked and received permission to circulate an RFP to operate the Ball Ranch and Ledger Island properties, very popular properties that had not been officially open to the public.  All of these have significant opportunities for hiking, biking, fishing, horseback riding, nature observations, and exploring. At the February meeting, the Executive Officers Report (Item G-3), had a discussion of our properties that are open, those that just need to have the signage changed, and those that will take more effort to open.  In summary: Total SJRC Lands (including some acreage of the State Lands Commission that is accessible under Public Trust): just under 3,000 acres Land that has been open to the public, at least three days per week: 950 acres Land that has been informally open to pedestrians and bicycles access: 955 acres Land that is open to Organized Groups under agreement: 85 acres Land that will take more effort to open: 620 acres We are currently updating our web pages to have maps of the Conservancy's properties, including some the focus on recreational facilities.

The San Joaquin River Conservancy is hoping to engage all our stakeholders for input and advice.  The intent of the River Broadcast is a part of this effort.  We are interested in suggestions that you may have to make this newsletter better.