Just south of Dos Rios Ranch, a much-praised effort at river restoration, another such project is taking root. It will add about 380 acres of floodplain and other habitat to the 1,600 acres at Dos Rios. They are near the confluence of the Tuolumne and San Joaquin rivers, about eight miles southwest of Modesto. The state-funded project, totaling about $20.8 million, is on the former Hidden Valley Dairy. Annual feed crops are giving way to oaks, cottonwoods, willows and other native plants. The floodplain will take on high river flows that otherwise could threaten nearby Grayson and downstream towns. The standing water could recharge the aquifer below for use during droughts. The place could offer food and shelter to fish, birds, mammals and other creatures.

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