Dear Friend,

The beginning of 2008 marks an exciting beginning for the River Exchange.  In January of this year we kicked off a thirty-month landscape level assessment of the Upper

Sacramento River Watershed.  The project is being funded through a grant from the California Department of Water Resources and the CalFed Bay-Delta program.  We will be conducting a first-ever comprehensive review of the state of the Upper Sac basin, with an eye towards understanding the overall health of our watershed, and planning for its

future stewardship.

The River Exchange is fortunate to have as its partners on the grant the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, California Trout, and the Shasta Valley and Western Shasta Resource Conservation Districts.  The partners will be joined by other governmental agencies, private landowners, and stakeholders in the watershed to form a Steering Committee that will direct and oversee the progress of the assessment. 

The assessment process will consist of several parts.  First, we will be conducting a thorough literature search to pull together all the existing information on the watershed and its ecological health.  We anticipate being able to use

a great deal of the information that was compiled following the 1991 metam sodium spill on the river as a solid basis for our data collection.  We will also be looking at many other sources of data as well.

Following the compilation of existing data, we will begin to analyze and interpret the information collected, and start to create the overall picture of our watershed’s condition.  At the same time, we will also identify those places where we have significant data gaps, and prioritize those areas in which we can do additional data collection within the funding constraints of the grant.

Once we have analyzed existing information, identified data gaps, and collected new data where feasible, we will be able to begin the process of actually putting together the assessment report.  The final segment of the project will involve using the assessment report to draft a non-regulatory management strategy for the watershed that will identify future stewardship priorities and opportunities. 

Our goal for the project is to reach a shared understanding of what the conditions of our watershed are at this point in time, and what we may need to do to preserve watershed health where it is good, and to improve it where it is not.

Throughout the course of the assessment and management planning process, there will be many opportunities for public input and involvement.  As those opportunities arise, we will be sure to let you know how and where you can get involved.  We continue to believe that community involvement is one of the most important ways that we assure the health of our watersheds for today and for future generations.

With appreciation for all you do,

Sandra Spelliscy

Executive Director

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