Bill AB-43, passed the California Assembly 57–3 and aims to permanently protect national wild and scenic rivers in California by removing the 2025 sunset clause on a key state law. This would ensure California can continue safeguarding these rivers from potential federal rollbacks on protections.

We did it—a dangerous attempt to fast-track the Delta Tunnel and gut environmental protections has been stopped… for now. Your calls and advocacy made a real difference—and lawmakers heard you.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel in our fight to stop Sites Reservoir. After a year of participating in the water rights proceeding to permit the project, Friends of the River and our coalition of California tribes and environmental groups hit a critical milestone, – we submitted closing briefs to the Administrative Hearings Office of the State Water Board, detailing the extensive legal, environmental, and cultural flaws in the proposed project.

Spring-run Chinook salmon are in the San Joaquin River! So far this year nearly 400 adult fish have made it back from the Pacific Ocean. Challenged by low flows, warm water, and dams blocking access to summer holding and spawning habitat, spring-run are now listed as Threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

In April of this year, more than 30 people gathered for 9 days on the banks of the South Fork American River for FOR’s 2025 Guide Activist Training—a program designed not just to teach river skills, but to build a powerful, connected community of river advocates…

On May 3rd, more than 50 years after its founding, Friends of the River returned to the Stanislaus to help community groups highlight current restoration work on the Lower Stanislaus and build support for expanding efforts to improve fish habitat and overall river health. 

Governor Newsom’s revised state budget would remove barriers to fast-tracking the Delta Tunnel. For over half a century, California’s Governors have been fighting a persistent - and so far, uphill – battle to complete the State Water Project (SWP) and build new infrastructure to carry water around or under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

This month’s Federal Watch tracks shifting tides in Congress, endangered species protections, and federal agency staffing—revealing how decisions in D.C. ripple across California’s rivers. From fish protections on the chopping block, to subsidies for deadbeat dams, dive into the latest threats and under-the-radar developments.

The breathtaking dismantling of the federal government continues. The federal government is in chaos. Staff are being pushed to resign. Whole program areas that had been authorized by Congress are quietly slipping under the waves or being rendered ineffective. The nation that we thought we lived in is disappearing without notice or the consent of its citizens. 

Just minutes from Nevada City, the South Fork Yuba between Edwards and Purdon Crossings is a hidden gem of granite gorges, crystal-clear water, and unforgettable river adventures. Whether you're paddling spring rapids or lounging on sun-warmed rocks in summer, it’s a place that always leaves a mark.

Barry Nelson gave a touching tribute in memory of David Nesmith “Chicken” during the California River Awards on April 25, 2025.

The poppies are blooming on the hillsides above the South Fork of the American. The news is worse than ever. But paradoxically, I feel like I am starting to get my sea legs under me in this storm of attacks on everything I value coming from Washington DC. I spent April 5 with thousands of other cardboard carrying, witty citizens in downtown Sacramento. Clearly many others are starting to feel greater agency. I hope you are too…

Hi everyone! I am excited to be joining FOR as the new River Operations Coordinator! Having grown up in the Puget Sound region of Western Washington, access to public lands and free-flowing rivers has been a critical part of my life since I was a kid. Now, having recently graduated, I am ecstatic to be working alongside such a dynamic, accomplished team in protecting and advocating for California’s rivers. Here are a few things I think you should know about me…

On April 15, the Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to close the commercial salmon fishery for the third year in a row, and restricted sportfishing for salmon to a very brief window.

While these measures are necessary to protect salmon stocks, the impacts are mostly felt by fishing communities and the seafood industries they support…

Harming endangered species is about to become federal policy. President Trump has long singled out endangered species protections for the Delta smelt – which he has called “an essentially worthless fish” – as the reason for water shortages on California[A1] , ignoring the facts of how little water is actually allocated for environmental purposes and how many different river and estuary species (including salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon) are also protected by environmental water requirements…

Doing our part for our fellow countrymen: Yes, we have national wild & scenic rivers in California — from the iconic Yosemite rivers to the little-known gems scattered about the state. We are pretty proud of that.

Fortunately, facing the chaos of the Trump Administration and a hostile Congress, there is something that the California legislature can do…

Despite the fact that the McCloud River has been protected by the California Wild & Scenic Rivers Act since 1989, the first Trump administration made the $2-billion Shasta Dam raise – which would inundate much of the river – a priority. Fortunately it ran out of time to finish the required paperwork in early 2021[RS1] .They also got mired on the shoals of a non-compliant Congress. The second Trump administration has more time and the prospects of a compliant Congress… read on for updates on proposed dam projects throughout the state….

As I wade into the river, a wispy fog rises from the burbling waters gently pushing against my knees. A deer breaks a branch while getting a drink. A bald eagle screeches overhead looking for fish too. It is cold— frost outlines the yellow and red leaves fallen to the ground and a faint band of snow caps the tops of the steep hills. My tranquility is rudely interrupted…

Friends of the River mourns the passing of one of the giants of California water law, Harrison C. Dunning, known as “Hap” since childhood, on March 31, at the age of 86.

Hap was one of the foremost scholars of water law in the state. A long-time professor of law at the University of California at Davis, he started a course in water law there and taught many of the state’s leading water attorneys. The results of his efforts to highlight the uses and importance of the public trust doctrine were cited in the California Supreme Court’s historic Mono Lake decision…

Some of you may have noticed the passing of the actor Richard Chamberlain at age 90. Perhaps the older among you will remember his role as Doctor Kildare in the TV series Dr. Kildare and various other TV and movie roles during his career. What perhaps fewer will remember was his 1984 starring role in the Interior (now Natural Resources) Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives’ hearing on the proposed wild & scenic river designation of the Tuolumne River. I was there and can retell some of the drama of that May day in our nation’s capital…