Watershed
Located in the foothills of the southern Sierra Nevadas, Dry Creek is a tributary of the Kaweah River and home of one of seventeen stands of Sycamore Alluvial Woodland remaining worldwide, some trees: three to four centuries old. With numerous other rare plant species, the Kaweah River watershed is biologically diverse, emptying with the Kings, Kern and Tule Rivers into Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake in the lower 48 states.
Great Western Divide
November 17, 2005
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish around 1770, native cultures sustained regional population densities between the Kings and Kern Rivers unmatched anywhere else in North America. After the War with Mexico in 1849, Anglo occupation was accelerated by the discovery of gold, and later, large herds of cattle were grazed in the San Joaquin Valley to supply food for California�s growing population. With the advent of farming and a series of severe droughts and floods in the 1860�s, cattle, like the Yokuts, were displaced into the foothills.
Today, the last twelve miles of this watershed contains eight homes and as many grazing operations. With the common and successful opposition to a rock and gravel operation within the Dry Creek channel, we have become a tight community of individuals working towards the overall well-being of the watershed.