Diversity of Landscapes

The Tuolumne is a world class river that winds through some of the most iconic landscapes in the world. Over it’s 162-mile journey, the Tuolumne is the lifeblood of diverse communities from Yosemite to the San Francisco Bay.

The Tuolumne River’s 162 mile majestic journey originates high in the glaciers and towering granite peaks of Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada range The River meanders through the world renowned Tuolumne Meadows, and cascades down the slopes of the Sierra Nevada over waterfalls and through ancient valleys that were carved during the last Ice Age

After exiting the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne, the River flows into Hetch Hetchy, San Francisco’s water storage reservoir. Descending through the vast watershed forests of Stanislaus National Forest, the river leaves the mountains and flows west across the Central Valley to its confluence with the San Joaquin River, ultimately pouring into the San Francisco Bay where it provides drinking water to nearly 3 million people.

On this impressive journey across California, the Tuolumne passes through a multitude of diverse ecosystems, landscapes and communities, creating chains of interdependence between them all From mountain villages in the High Sierra, to the agricultural communities of the Central Valley, to the bustling cities of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Tuolumne River is a unifying and connecting force linking distant regions and people who depend upon it together, even though many are unaware of the full impact it has on them

Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada

The Tuolumne watershed, located in the greater Yosemite region and high in the Sierra Nevada, includes un-dammed, wild tributaries flowing through sculpted granite canyons, verdant meadows that host diverse wildlife, and expansive mixed conifer forests The headwater forests are an integral part of a complex hydrologic system, which river health and wildlife habitats depend on Forests provide clean water and sequester carbon but are now threatened by past and current catastrophic wildfires, pests, and years of drought In 2013, the Rim Fire foretold a story of exponential change and disturbance At the time, the Rim Fire was by far the largest wildfire recorded in the history of this region, which has sadly been surpassed by multiple devastating wildfires throughout the range in recent years The Rim Fire contributed as much carbon to the atmosphere as is produced by over 2.5 million cars in a year. Post-fire erosion degraded the normally clear Tuolumne River, while the most severely burned areas experienced extreme tree mortality and seed bank loss. Forests have struggled to naturally regenerate without reforestation and restoration efforts. Bringing back the River’s headwater forests is of the utmost importance in order to help maintain healthy watershed.

Central Valley

Flowing out of the golden foothills, the Tuolumne meanders through the San Joaquin Valley where some of the region’s oldest Valley Oaks arch from its banks. Healthy floodplains and river channels provide critical habitat for young Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout; the same fish that are reared in these waters continue their journey out to the San Francisco Bay, where they will spend the majority of their adult life in the Pacific Ocean before swimming back upstream to spawn. After salmon spawn, they die, decay, and contribute their nutrients back to the river and surrounding land, continuing the circle of life In this part of the watershed, about 200,000 acres of farmland is irrigated with water from the Tuolumne About 46% of the Tuolumne’s natural flow is diverted from the River near Don Pedro Dam and used to grow food that is consumed both locally and abroad Ensuring that there is enough water left in the River benefits not only the environment, but also our diverse and culturally rich local communities Through our educational programs, we provide safe access to the Tuolumne and empower multigenerational families in stewarding the land around their communities

Bay Area

After the Tuolumne has provided all of these benefits to our economies and communities, it joins the San Joaquin River and flows into the San Francisco Bay Delta, the largest estuary on the West Coast of the Americas, producing an explosion of biological diversity. In addition to Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Trout, a rich assortment of wildlife and plants depend on the Tuolumne’s flow in the Delta, including Delta smelt, sturgeon, and flocks of waterfowl and shorebirds. As the Tuolumne and other rivers in the Central Valley have suffered in recent years due to chronically poor water quality, so has the Delta, with many Delta-dependent fish and wildlife populations on the brink of extinction. Bringing the Delta back to health requires adequate inflow, which continues to be challenged by climate change and poor water management and government policy. Advocating for water policy that benefits both humans and the environment is vital to the future of our State of California and region.