Staying engaged in the science community and our local communities

November 2026

Lake County Land Trust presents wetland restoration to California Lake experts in October at UC Davis

By: Angela De Palma-Dow

Lake County Land Trust, along with consultants at Flowwest and partners at Big Valley Rancheria, presented the Kuhla’Napo Wetland Preserve Manning Creek and Delta Restoration Project at the California Lake Management Society (CALMS) early in October at UC Davis.

This was a perfect audience to present the planning project that is currently reaching 30% design, which is an engineering plan milestone and major grant objective for this project, funded by the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife.

CALMS is the California chapter of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), a scientific and professional organization that strives to create partnerships among citizens, scientists, and professionals to foster the management and protection of lakes and reservoirs for today and tomorrow. NALMS was founded in 1980 with the California Chapter founded shortly thereafter in 1985 and is the only state-wide network of individuals, lake associations and public fund representatives devoted solely to preservation and protection of the lakes of California.

While the presentation focused on plans and design for restoration of a vital creek and wetland, the positive impacts to Clear Lake were on display for peer review and expert critique. We are happy to say that they project presentation received positive reviews and encouraging feedback, even among a room full of lake experts!

The LCLT, Big Valley, Flowwest, and project partners are grateful to the CALMS conference planning team for including Clear Lake, and this restoration project, in their event and we look forward to presenting at this avenue again when the restoration project is completed at Kuhla’Napo!

This presentation was one of seven presented in a two-part Clear Lake Session that occurred in the main ballroom on Thursday afternoon on October 1st, 2026. The other presentations in the session included:

8 years of Collaboration in Clear Lake: Blue Ribbon Committee for Rehabilitation of Clear Lake (By Sam Magill, Sacramento State)
Understanding Water Quality Impairment: Cyanotoxins, Fish Die-Offs, and Public Awareness (By: Sarah Ryan, Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians)
Form & Function: Multi-Lake objective Restoration Design in Clearlake Oaks (By: Anna Kladzyk Constantino from McMillen and Christopher DiVittorio from PineCrest Environmental).
Hypolimnetic Oxygenation Plans for hypereutrophic, polymictic Clear Lake, California (By: Stehen McCord, Tahoe Environmental Research Center).
Lake-Wide sediment Assessment and Phosphorous Sequestration Demonstration in Clear Lake, CA (By Ryan Van Goethem from Eutrophix).
Pilot oxygen-zone nanobubble treatment in Clear Lake, CA (By Denise Devotta from Moleaer)

More information about CALMS and to view the presentation slides from the 2026 Annual Conference visit their website here: https://www.california-lakes.org/

Kuhla’Napo Wetland Restoration Webpage was recently updated:

https://www.lakecountylandtrust.org/lands/kuhlanapo-wetland-restoration

Respecting Place, People, and History: Kuhla'Napo Wetland Preserve

By: Marlene Quilala

Kuhla’Napo (Pronounced Koo-LAH Nah-poh) is a vital wetland, identity of a village that was located in the area that is currently our preserve, and is increasingly discussed in restoration, hitch, and local science spaces. As we learn more about the history of the region, this preserve's name has been spelled differently since being acquired by LCLT to the one it is today- Kuhla’Napo. This name honors the ancestral home of the Kuhla'Napo people. Kuhla'Napo is Pomo for water lily people. To honor this history, the name for the protected land and waters is the Kuhla'Napo Wetland Preserve.

We continue working with the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians on a co-management plan for Kuhla’Napo which enables implementation of traditional ecological knowledge and cultural practices, which includes planting, protecting, and harvesting culturally relevant plants by our Tribal partners. Shared stewardship and co-management is important in preserving the land, keeping sensitive areas protected, and rehabilitating biomes critical to the health of the lake and other ecosystems. What we know of these practices and history of Kuhla’Napo are upheld through oral tradition.

Oral tradition is the communication of knowledge, histories, beliefs, and ideas passed along and down generations through word of mouth, song, poetry, and other forms of oral communication. What is being passed down adapts with who is communicating and who is receiving it, and often reflects different historical meanings and metaphors. Since the way of disseminating this history of the name of the Kuhla’Napo people is done through oral communication, the way it is written is not something that is set in stone and unchanging because historically it is not written. Indigenous languages have different spellings and pronunciations and become realized, as we continuously collaborate with our Tribal partners and learn how a language that is orally communicated is translated into written word. The different ways of spelling indigenous language, such as Kuhla’Napo, reflect our commitment to our tribal partners in co-management of our preserves and accurately transcribing the identity of place that has been preserved by oral tradition.

The Lake County Land Trust values our partnership with the Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians in communicating with elders and Cultural Resource Officers, to ensure we accurately transcribe Indigenous languages to honor and respect oral interpretations throughout their ancestral lands of the Big Valley Basin.

Wild and Wanted: The Clear Lake Hitch

This fish is on the move and is fiercely protected! Thank you to the County of Lake Hitch Program for review and photos! This flyer can be spotted at the Rodman Nature Center.