In 1982, a California cheese maker donated thousands of acres from his dairy ranch; 44 years later crews removed his old cattle levees and reconnected the San Joaquin River to 220 acres of floodplain

For over 70 years, a section of California’s San Joaquin River was cut off from the land it once naturally fed. Old levees, not built to hold back a river but to hold cattle, had quietly changed the landscape. Then in 2026 crews started to undo that history. Great Valley Grasslands State Park, outside Merced, was the scene of a celebration on June 11, as dozens of scientists, Tribal leaders, state officials, conservationists and community members gathered to mark the completion of a restoration project that took more than 15 years to bring to fruition. The Grasslands Floodplain Restoration Project, finished in February 2026, has reconnected the San Joaquin River to over 220 acres of historic floodplain habitat. The project is returning the river to its natural overflow across the grasslands, by breaching sections of old levees. It’s a remarkable environmental turnaround — and one that began with an unlikely gift from a California dairy farmer and cheesemaker. Scroll down to understand the relation between the project and cheesemaker.

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