Sanctuary Forest created the Mattole Flow Program to address the critical issue of low summer stream flows in the Mattole River, located in northwestern California. Over the last ten years we have seen the lowest streamflow measurements ever recorded in 60 years. This persistent pattern of summertime low flows is a serious concern for residents who rely on the river for their water supply, and for the three native species of salmonids—coho, Chinook and steelhead—that depend on the Mattole headwaters for critical habitat to survive the hot, dry summers. For most summers throughout the past decade, the headwaters refuge became a grave for hundreds or even thousands of juvenile salmon as the river dried up.

When we saw that reduced streamflow was resulting in deadly conditions for salmon, we started outreaching to landowners about the importance of increasing water storage during the winter and refraining from pumping water during the summer. The Program provides participating landowners with water storage tanks to enable them to do exactly that. Educational outreach has included community meetings; brochures and fact sheets; radio shows; events; streamflow updates via a hand-painted sign, public service announcements, website and facebook postings; and public hikes to tour the river and the efforts of our partners. Additionally, our work has attracted state and federal agencies that use the Program as a model for other watersheds. We have presented our findings at national conferences, and work with a variety of community members, scientists, nonprofits and agencies to continue defining what we can all do to protect rivers everywhere.

Education is costly, though, and has become increasingly hard to fund through grants. We need your help to continue informing our community about the dangerous effects of low streamflow and the significance of conserving water, as well as providing this information to concerned people around the country. Our mission to restore the Mattole is an acknowledgement of our partnership with the river: we must protect what the river needs so that we can continue to depend on the river for what we need. Donate now and become our partner with the river, and help keep human and fish populations everywhere strong and healthy.