Zacharias Ranch Mitigation Bank Tidal Restoration

Westervelt Ecological Services is advancing the restoration of approximately 500 acres of seasonally farmed land into a functional tidal freshwater marsh and riparian habitat along Snodgrass Slough in southwestern Sacramento County, within a roughly 600-acre property bounded by Lambert Road and Twin Cities Road. The project involves breaching existing farm berms to reconnect the land to tidal flows, excavating 31,000 linear feet of interior tidal and subtidal channels, constructing habitat mounds from dredged material, and planting native vegetation such as tule and valley oak to reestablish a self-sustaining ecosystem. Construction is planned over two phases: earthmoving and planting will occur from August to October 2025, followed by the breaching of the primary berm in summer 2026 after vegetation has stabilized. The initiative replaces a previously rescinded Williamson Act contract with an Open Space Easement Agreement under California Government Code §51201(o), affirming long-term conservation use. Environmental compliance is guided by CEQA, with assessments addressing impacts to agricultural, biological, archaeological, tribal cultural, and scenic resources using adjectival significance ratings, while protocols for human remains discovery and archaeological work adhere to state statutes and Secretary of the Interior standards. The lead agency is the County of Sacramento, which retains oversight authority for inspection, acceptance, and mitigation compliance, though no formal contracting officer, COR, COTR, or PCO roles are designated. The project sponsor, Brighton Heard of Westervelt Ecological Services, serves as the applicant, while Julie Newton of Sacramento County’s Planning and Environmental Review is the primary point of contact. No federal acquisition clauses or FAR-based procurement elements are present; the transaction is structured as a state-led conservation effort with environmental evaluations instead of competitive bidding. Deliverables include restored hydrology, functional tidal channel networks, and native plant communities, with monitoring and reporting tied to mitigation measures such as TCR-1 and CUL-1. No contract value, payment details, invoice system, or socioeconomic certifications are specified, and while appendices on environmental commitments and an arborist survey are referenced, no formal submission deadlines, proposal formats, or electronic portals for bids are established. The work is confined to the site near Walnut Grove in Sacramento County, with all approvals and inspections handled locally under CEQA and state environmental codes, not federal contracting frameworks.