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Southwestern Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve
 With
the creation of the Southwestern
Riverside County Multi-Species Reserve, the Metropolitan
Water District of Southern California forged California's first
agreement for multispecies protection. The reserve consists
of 11,000 acres surrounding and connecting Diamond Valley Lake
with Lake Skinner via the 2,500-acre Dr. Roy Shipley Reserve
purchased by Metropolitan as partial mitigation for the project.
Notable species include:
• The California gnatcatcher, which makes its home in the low-growing, fragrant coastal sage scrub
• Bell's sage sparrow, which nests in Riversidian coastal sage scrub and chaparral
• The San Diego horned lizard and the orange-throated whiptail, which are found throughout the reserve in sage scrub, chaparral and grassland areas
• The Payson's jewelflower and Parry's spineflower, appearing in Riversidian sage scrub areas
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Features
The reserve is home to at least eight types of habitat and up
to 16 sensitive bird, animal and plant species. Three types of
habitat dominate: Riverside coastal sage scrub, non-native grasslands
and chaparral. Smaller habitats include: coast live oak woodland,
southern willow scrub and live oak, and cottonwood willow riparian
forests.
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