ATC is investigating the feasibility of truffle cultivation as a form of a riparian buffer that can provide landowners with an agricultural commodity that simultaneously provides an array of ecosystem services…
To start, ATC is working with a landowner (Traina Property) on a truffle orchard that is within the Napa River Restoration Oakville to Oak Knoll (OVOK) Reach. Napa County is working with participating landowners on the OVOK Project which includes 4.8 miles of active channel restoration activities along nine miles of the mainstem Napa River between the Oakville Cross Road Bridge and the Oak Knoll Avenue Bridge. The purpose of the OVOK Project is to restore and enhance long-term river and floodplain function, improve the quality and resilience of aquatic and terrestrial riparian habitat, and reduce property damage and sediment delivery associated with ongoing bank erosion processes.
“The Traina property has the potential to serve as an example of how agriculture may be able to interface with river restoration in an environmentally sustainable manner,” says Shaun Horn, Watershed and Flood Control Resource Specialist for NCFCWCD. “This could prove an exciting opportunity for the river restoration project.” Another excellent attribute of planting truffle orchards is that native oak species can be used as host trees, e.g. valley oak (Quercus lobata).
