Mokelumne River Protected by Wild and Scenic Status
CalTrout scored another legislative victory on June 27, 2018 when Gov. Jerry Brown officially designated Northern California’s Mokelumne River as a Wild and Scenic River. The designation applies to 37 miles of the North Fork Mokelumne and main stem running through Amador and Calaveras counties.
Perhaps relatively unknown, the Mokelumne is an important river, supplying water and power to tens of thousands of Californians in the foothills, Central Valley, and the entire East Bay of San Francisco. The river offers critical, cold-water habitat for native salmonids. It is neither stocked nor managed as a fishery in any of the protected sections, yet robust populations of wild trout persist in all of these reaches. This is a testament to the quality of the habitat and presence of cold, clean water.
Under California’s Wild and Scenic Rivers Act of 1972–one of CalTrout’s earliest victories in legislative advocacy–Mokelumne River’s extraordinary scenic, recreational, and wildlife values will be “preserved in their free-flowing state for the benefit and enjoyment of people of this state”, and its waters on the five designated segments will be closed off to construction of new on-stream dams and major water diversions.
CalTrout News: Mokelumne River earns Wild and Scenic protected status
