The Shasta River, collecting water from Mt. Shasta and the Eddy Mountains, meanders for 58 miles through the Shasta Valley, draining into the Klamath River.  For millennia, half of all salmon returning to the entire Klamath and Trinity watersheds came back to spawn in the Shasta River, until the early 20th Century when massive irrigation development depleted the river’s water thus robbing it of its native Coho and Chinook salmon spawning habitat.

Excessive irrigation continues today in the Shasta Valley, where water-hungry crops are grown in a desert environment.  Although the Shasta River historically has flowed at rates greater than 150 cubic feet per second, early this June the flow was less than 5 cubic feet per second.  This is not enough to sustain a healthy river ecosystem and support already endangered fish species.

Friends of the Shasta River is doing something to change this dire situation.  As a non-profit organization recently formed by friends and neighbors from the Shasta River watershed, the organization’s mission is restoration of Shasta River water quantity and quality for the benefit of wildlife and humanity.  It is time to equitably share the watershed’s valuable resource so both farming and fish can thrive.  We encourage you to explore Friends of the Shasta River website, shastariver.org, and learn more about the incredible potential to restore the Shasta River and actions you can take to help save the Shasta River!