Sotoyome Resource Conservation District page 2

ANNUAL REPORT 2000-2001

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Major Watersheds Within the District

RUSSIAN RIVER WATERSHED

The Russian River and its watershed encompass a 1500 square miles area of Sonoma and Mendocino Counties in Northern California of primarily rural land held in private land ownership. The river originates in central Mendocino County, approximately 15 miles north of Ukiah, flows southwest and empties into the Pacific Ocean at Jenner, about 20 miles west of Santa Rosa. The Russian River has three Resource Conservation Districts with some jurisdiction within its watershed boundaries. These include the Gold Ridge RCD, the Sotoyome RCD, and the Mendocino County RCD.

The watershed is 95% privately owned with land use mostly in agriculture, rangeland and wildland. Urbanization, while increasing at a rapid pace currently takes up about 5% of the basin. The river supplies drinking water for over 500,000 people in three counties, irrigation for agriculture, fish and wildlife habitat as well as recreational uses. The Russian River historically provided a highly prized anadromous fishery that ranked only behind the larger Klamath, Eel and Sacramento Rivers systems in abundance. The river’s anadromous fisheries populations are now in drastic decline as a result of land uses changes including agriculture and urban development, gravel mining, timber production and more.

GUALALA RIVER WATERSHED

The Gualala River is a coastal river located in northwestern Sonoma County and southwestern Mendocino County, California. The watershed encompasses about 300 square miles of mountainous rugged terrain with elevations ranging from sea level to over 2,650 feet. In the Gualala River drainage there are approximately 75 miles of Coho salmon and 178 miles of steelhead trout habitat. Past land use practices in the fragile and highly erosive landscape have contributed to erosion and mass wasting, producing sedimentation in the river and tributaries. That sedimentation is believed to be a major contributing factor to the decline of historic runs of Coho salmon and steelhead trout. One of the most significant elements needed for long-term restoration of salmon and steelhead habitat productivity in the Gualala River watershed is the reduction of future impacts from upland erosion. In 1997 the Gualala River Watershed Council (GRWC) was formed due to concerns in the community about the health of the watershed and a desire to address the problems in the watershed. The District has been working cooperatively with the GRWC to perform outreach and education in the form of landowner workshops and volunteer monitor trainings. The District has also assisted the GRWC with obtaining funding to perform assessments of the road systems within the watershed and to implement sediment source reduction projects.

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