🌊Volunteer River Guides Needed🌊

Applications still open!

There is no better way to understand the importance of rivers to nature and our lives than by experiencing them. We need to grow our river program in order to grow our grassroots network of influencers, activists, and supporters. We are training and selecting our 2025 volunteer crew now.

If you or someone you know would like to learn how to be a raft guide, please consider our Guide Activist Training this April 11-19 on the South Fork of the American River.

If you are an experienced private boater or commercial rafting guide, please contact us if you would like to volunteer (for guide training, river trips, etc.).

🏆California River Awards - April 25🏆

The Verdi Club, San Francisco

Honoring: Bring Back the Kern

Bring Back the Kern is a group of Bakersfield residents united by both their love of community and the Kern River.

The Kern River is overtapped--30 miles of the river, which runs through Bakersfield, are bone dry. Bring Back the Kern has been leading the fight to restore flows in the dry river, and to foster a water system that is healthy for farming, wildlife, and citizens.

Come hear about their journey and honor their work!

This year, the California River Awards is more crucial than ever. We need to raise over $150K to protect California’s rivers from unprecedented threats, and we need to grow our collective voice by engaging more people in taking action, both through donations and activism.

Top: Members of Bring Back the Kern. Bottom: Activists at the March for the Kern River, March 2025.

✨Welcoming Daniel Belshe✨

FOR is SO excited to announce that we have hired Daniel Belshe for the role of Engagement Manager!

Daniel has a rich background in geography and mapping, activism and community engagement related to rivers, and is well-travelled, to boot. Learn more about Daniel, in his own words... Read more.

We are excited to bring you this month’s Currents articles, which highlight key news about California's rivers, and what FOR is doing to protect them.

It Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady Issues a Permit... or Three...: An update on the "Triple Threat" -- three proposed projects/policies that threaten California’s rivers, the Bay-Delta ecosystem, and communities that rely on them. As regulatory proceedings continue under immense political pressure, concerns mount about the long-term impacts on the environment, and the sustainability of the Newsom's water agenda.... Read more.

The Merced River Ran Dry.. and Nobody Knew About It: It’s difficult to believe that it really happened, but during the summer of 2022, the Merced River, the 14th largest river in California, ran completely dry for four months near its confluence point with the San Joaquin River. The river, which originates in Yosemite National Park, ultimately flows into the San-Francisco Bay-Delta. The river was completely dry and impassable for four miles... Read more.

Merced River in Yosemite Valley, 1969. Credit: CA Dept. of Water Resources (DWR).

CA Should Defend its Wild and Scenic Rivers: Let’s face it, the federal government’s environmental protection capabilities and responsibilities are being eroded from within, and this Congress may not prove to be our friend. GOP control of even one house of the Congress has clearly demonstrated the Congressional problem… Read more.

Hyperbole Sells, Apparently: A little-noticed item appeared in a local newspaper recently. The Placer Sentinal ran a story based on a press release from the Placer County Water Agency (PCWA) announcing the construction of some operable gates on top of what is now just a pour-over spillway at PCWA’s Hell Hole Dam on the Middle Fork of the American River... Read more.

HEADWATERS: A Young Artist’s Comic Inspires Action for Watersheds

At Friends of the River, we love to see the next generation taking action to protect California’s rivers and watersheds. That’s why we’re excited to share a special contribution from Cerys Watkins, a 6th-grade student in Sacramento, who created a comic to inspire others to care for their local watersheds… Read more.

Headwaters - Seeking River Stories

Friends of the River's Headwaters Magazine is a beautiful repository of articles about rivers and river recreation, opinion pieces, policy analysis, river news, art, photographs, and more. Right now, we are looking for stories about your favorite rivers, or favorite river experiences.

We also welcome submissions of articles that speak to the six areas in which we work for the protection of California's rivers: hydropower reform, saving and storing water, restoring flows, flood management, legal and regulatory protections, and inspiring citizen action. We also welcome submissions of visual art, creative writing, poetry, and photos that are centered around rivers and nature more broadly.

Not sure what to submit? Let's work together. More info here. Please email keiko@friendsoftheriver.org to discuss a submission.

Please consider a generous gift to help FOR fight the Triple Threat to Rivers. This will be a critical year to stop Sites Reservoir, the Delta Tunnel and the Voluntary Agreements.