Wild Rivers Project

Even in a state that sets the bar for diversity – in culture, geology, wildlife, and ecology – the array of outstanding waterways California contains is truly remarkable. Steep, granite-housed Sierra Nevada rivers make up the majority of our drinking water and flow into two massive Central Valley drainages (the San Joaquin and Sacramento) that then feed millions through one of the world’s largest agricultural economies. Coastal rivers like the Sespe, Eel, and the mighty Klamath – plus ephemeral ones like the Mojave Desert’s Amargosa – all add singular qualities to a region where water exists in extremes. Proposals to dam and divert these waters, which are economic drivers and habitat for critical keystone species like Coho salmon, along with extended droughts, continue to threaten their longterm health.

Complimenting our longstanding work to protect wilderness lands, CalWild has a formidable track of protecting wild and scenic rivers. Ever since we advocated for the Tuolumne River to be designated in the historic California Wilderness Act of 1984, wild rivers have been a part of every one of our protection campaigns.

Explore California’s Wild Rivers

50+ years of saving rivers

The National Wild & Scenic Rivers Act celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2018. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Act in 1968, creating the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System. This bedrock environmental law is the nation’s primary river conservation tool, prohibiting new dams and diversions on protected rivers through acts of Congress. Designated rivers are managed as wild, scenic, or recreational based on the level of existing development at time of designation.

The National System protects less than 1% of the country’s rivers and streams – a figure so low that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers free-flowing rivers to be endangered ecosystems. In California, about 2,100 miles of rivers and streams are protected in the National System (~2% of the state’s waterways). There is also a state-managed Wild & Scenic River System in California, with extensive overlap between federal and state protection. Based on federal agency assessments, CalWild estimates that there are about 4,500 miles of rivers and streams in California that are eligible for national and state protection. It is our goal to designate 6,000 miles total by 2028.

Thank you to the generous sponsors of this project: HiPark, NRS, Alpacka Raft, Sunski, Klean Kanteen, Sawyer, American Whitewater

• Amargosa River
• Lower American River
• North Fork American River
• Bautista Creek
• Big Sur River
• Black Butte River
• Cottonwood Creek
• Deep Creek
• Eel River
• Middle Fork Feather River
• North Fork Kern River
• South Fork Kern River
• Kings River
• Klamath River

• Merced River
• Mokelumne River
• Owens River
• Palm Canyon Creek
• Piru Creek River
• North Fork San Jacinto & Fuller Mill Creeks
• Sespe Creek
• Sisquoc River
• Smith River
• Surprise Canyon
• Trinity River
• Tuolumne River
• Whitewater River

STATE ONLY

• Albion River
• Cache Creek River
• East Carson River
• Deer Creek
• Gualala River
• McCloud River
• Mill Creek
• Mokelumne River
• South Yuba River
• West Walker River