By acquiring riverland properties with associated water rights, WRC can have an even greater impact on river systems, especially when rivers are strained by summer heat, water withdrawals and low flows. On California’s South Fork Scott, for example, we are acquiring a ranch with senior water rights and hope to return enough water to the river to increase late summer flows by up to 20 percent. Similarly, we are working in Idaho’s Sawtooth Valley to dedicate water in-stream on a top-priority salmon stream and tributary to the Salmon River. In Colorado, we are working to reestablish perennial flows on a dewatered stretch of the Little Cimarron, and in Oregon, we recently dedicated water instream on Catherine Creek, a top-priority salmon stream.
