The River Exchange

Programs: We began in 1996 as a project of the city of dunsmuir and the cantara trustee council, created in the aftermath of the disastrous 1991 cantara loop railroad spill that destroyed all plan and animal life along 36 miles of the upper sacramento river. Cantara trustee council funding ended in 2006. Since then, we have grown into an independent and self-sustaining organization. Selected accomplishments prior to 2013-2014 fiscal year (demonstrating scope of our activities)1998: received california governors award for environmental & economic leadership2010: recreation inventory and analysis, castle crags wilderness, shasta-trinity national forest, with grant from national forest foundation2010: completed upper sacramento watershed assessment with grant from ca dept. Of water resources2011: restoration of headwaters spring, mt. Shasta city park, with grant from ca river parkways program2012: received sacramento river watershed programs watershed excellence award2011-2014: with grant of $592,000 from ca dept. Of water resources (cdwr), facilitated over 25 stakeholders and wrote upper sacramento region (usr) integrated regional water management plan (irwmp). Selected accomplishments in fiscal 2013-2014: aug. 2013: fly-fishing clinic, featuring top local fishing guides. Sept. 2013: 21st annual great river cleanup. Sept. 2013: based on usr irwmp (above), rex and other stakeholders formed the usr regional watershed management group (rwmg). This established eligibility for funds authorized under ca prop. 84. Jan. 2014: rex completed the irwmp; product accepted by cdwr. Feb. 2014: awarded $23,800 grant from national forest foundation for continuation of administrative services to the rwmg. June 2014: rex raft & restore, led by our friends at river dancers rafting, pulled truckloads of invasive scotch broom from gravel bars along klamath river. (the upper sacramento was too low for rafting this year. )june 2014: rex presented speakers from union pacific rr, ca office of spill prevention & response, and siskiyou county emergency services in a dunsmuir rail safety forum. August 2014: just after close of fy, city of mt. Shasta was awarded $4,000,000 from prop. 84 funding for water infrastructure improvements. This was the largest grant ever received by the city, and was made possible by the completion of the usr irwmp by the river exchange. This work will improve the citys wastewater management, and reduce winter releases of treated effluent into the upper sacramento river.