The Carson River begins in the Sierra Nevada southeast of Lake Tahoe as two separate forks.The united Carson River flows through the Carson Valley and into Lahontan Reservoir, draining after 184 miles into the Carson Sink wetlands in the Great Basin of Nevada.
Serving as the “lifeline of the Southwest,” and one of the most heavily regulated rivers in the world, the Colorado River provides water to 35 million people and more than 4 million acres of farmland in a region encompassing some 246,000 square miles.
The Klamath River flows 253 miles from Southern Oregon to the California coast, draining a basin of more than 15,000 square miles. The watershed and its fisheries have been the subject of negotiation since the 1860s negotiations that have intensified and continue to this day.
The Klamath, Trinity, Eel, Russian and Smith rivers are the major northern streams that drain this sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon border. These rivers and their tributaries flow west to the Pacific Ocean and account for about 40 percent of the state’s total runoff.
The Russian River drains the sparsely populated, forested coastal area that stretches from San Francisco to the Oregon border.
Along the Russian, federally funded dams have created Lake Mendocino (at the Coyote Dam) and Lake Sonoma (Warm Springs Dam). Locally built aqueducts channel water from these lakes into growing Marin and Sonoma counties.
The Sacramento River is California’s largest river, providing 35 percent of the state’s developed water supply. The river helps support the valley’s millions of acres of irrigated agriculture and is home to wildlife and a range of aquatic species, including rearing habitat for 70 percent of all salmon caught off the California coast.
From its headwaters high in California’s Sierra Nevada, the Truckee River flows into and through Lake Tahoe, continuing down the Truckee River canyon to the Reno metropolitan area and then across miles of Nevada high desert before flowing into Pyramid Lake, 40 miles northeast of Reno.
The San Joaquin River, which helps drain California’s Central Valley, has been negatively impacted by construction of dams, inadequate streamflows and poor water quality. Efforts are now underway to restore the river and continue providing agricultural lands with vital irrigation, among other water demands.