Planning for the Dry Creek Parkway began in the 1980's in response to the
increased pressure to preserve open space and wildlife habitat in the rapidly
urbanizing area, and to provide a higher level of flood control within the Dry
Creek Watershed. The Dry Creek channel within the Parkway contains the last
remaining major open space corridor in the North County area, and provides a
significant amount of floodway capacity. The establishment of the Parkway will
provide a continuous natural corridor to the benefit of wildlife including rare,
threatened and endangered species, and will preserve the stormwater conveyance
and storage capacity of the channel.
The Dry Creek Parkway will also provide much needed recreational
opportunities in the North County area, and will form a critical link in a
regional trail system that will benefit residents of both Sacramento County and
Placer County. This corridor will be a continuous system of public parks, trails
and facilities including Folsom Lake State Park, the American River Parkway, the
Ueda Parkway, the Dry Creek Parkway, and the Dry Creek Greenway. Upon completion
of this trail system, residents of Sacramento County and Placer County will be
able to hike, bicycle, and ride horseback along a greenway loop in excess of 70
miles.
A Draft Dry Creek Parkway Master Plan was completed in 1992, but County
resources were not available at that time to conduct the CEQA environmental
review and to finalize the Plan. In 2000, the County obtained federal TEA-21
funding and renewed efforts to complete the Master Plan. The Draft version of
the Master Plan is currently being revised by Foothill Associates to incorporate
up-to-date resource, regulatory, flood management, transportation, recreation
and community information. The Dry Creek Advisory
Committee, which includes
representatives from a variety of local community organizations and interest
groups, meets regularly to provide input to the Master Plan process.
Representatives from local jurisdictions and regulatory agencies have also been
invited to participate in the Master Plan process.
