California Wild Ones

The McCloud River, which drains into Lake Shasta, and the East Carson and West Walker rivers, which flow down the Eastern Sierra, all are targets of dam builders. Sacramento can keep them free by making them the first additions to the state’s wild and scenic rivers system in 16 years.It should do so.

A consulting firm hired by the state’s Resources Agency to study the rivers has concluded that portions of all three merit protection. Resources Secretary Gordon Van Vleck has until the end of the year to submit his own view of the issue to the Legislature and the governor.

The McCloud, which flows through pristine valleys and is one of the best trout streams in the state, may be dammed for a small hydroelectric project, as might the West Walker, which originates in Yosemite National Park. The West Walker is about the last of the fairly unspoiled streams on the eastern slope of the Sierra.

The East Carson River is the only other river on the eastern side of the Sierra that flows freely for extensive stretches. White-water rafters especially enjoy the river as it flows through a high-desert region more typically found in Utah or Colorado. Yet the East Carson is under consideration for a flood-control project in Nevada. A dam proposed for construction there would flood seven miles of the East Carson upstream of the Nevada border.

Advocates of wild-river status say that northern timber interests are the main opponents of inclusion of the McCloud in the state system because a change in status might restrict logging. Wild-river status only prevents dam construction or diversion of rivers.

Undammed rivers are rare in California. Dams can provide important benefits, but these rivers should remain free-flowing over the more than 75 miles recommended by the state consultant. The Legislature can always remove segments of rivers from the state system, but once dammed or diverted, a river is never quite the same.