The Mattole Integrated Coastal Watershed Management Plan

This document describes the Mattole River and Range Partnership’s (MRRP)  plan for watershed restoration and water quality management in the Mattole between 2010 and 2020. The MRRP is a partnership between three 501(c)(3) organizations, the Mattole Restoration Council, the Mattole Salmon Group, and Sanctuary Forest Inc., which seeks to improve the overall health of our watershed and its ecosystems. It identifies eight specific goals to be achieved during the decade. These goals are approached through eight Key Management Areas, or program types. For each management area the plan identifies a series of strategies, each of which lead to a number of specific tasks for implementation by the MRRP. Additionally, the Plan describes prioritization and monitoring approaches to enhance management and restoration actions. MRRP’s ultimate goals for the Mattole are abundant, native salmon runs along with healthy, productive upslope ecosystems and sustainably integrated human communities.

This Plan builds upon previous Mattole watershed planning documents including the North Coast Watershed Assessment Program, Mattole Basin Plan and the Mattole Watershed Plan, as well as broader planning documents such as the California Ocean Plan, North Coast Integrated Water Management Plan, and California’s Sediment Master Plan.

Implementing the actions described in this plan can be expected to accelerate the recovery of the Mattole watershed and protect its regionally important contributions to salmonid habitat and the conservation of California’s biodiversity. The Mattole River and Range Partnership published a watershed plan in Winter 2005. This set forth a 30-year vision for the watershed and an associated 5-year “implementation” plan. The Plan recommends site-specific projects that bring us closer to the long range vision.