We asked Julie Rentner, President of River Partners, to sit down with EDF to discuss the Preserve’s beginnings and journey from irrigated cropland to one of the state’s most significant and largest private-public floodplain restoration projects. Can you tell us about the origins of the Dos Rios Ranch Preserve project? The Dos Rios Ranch Preserve began with the catastrophic flood of 1997 — historically one of the largest floods in the Central Valley. Unfortunately, the flood broke 17 levees, leaving many landowners in the area frustrated by extensive flooding and damaged property. One ranching family, the Lyons, previously owned flood-prone land along the San Joaquin River near Modesto. They decided to put their property to another use with a vision to inspire collaborative conservation and wildlife habitat preservation.