Wild and Scenic Rivers, California State Designations Only, 2020

California Public Resources Code, Chapter 1.4. California Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, Section 5093.50. It is the policy of the State of California that certain rivers which possess extraordinary scenic, recreational, fishery, or wildlife values shall be preserved in their free-flowing state, together with their immediate environments, for the benefit and enjoyment of the people of the state. The Legislature declares that such use of these rivers is the highest and most beneficial use and is a reasonable and beneficial use of water within the meaning of Section 2 of Article X of the California Constitution. It is the purpose of this chapter to create a California Wild and Scenic Rivers System to be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter. Revisions will be conducted on an as-needed basis reflecting additions or amendments to the California Public Resources Code or significant changes to the National Hydrography Dataset NHDFlowline.

The State of California Wild, Scenic, and Recreational (WSR) Rivers dataset consists of designated California waterways specified in the California Public Resources Code. Waterway segments are identified by the California Public Resources Code and delineated by the National Hydrography Dataset (NHD). Federally designated WSR streams are not included in this dataset. This version differs from former versions in that it 1) coincides with the NHD flowline feature segments and identifiers, and 2) only includes those California streams that are designated wild, scenic, recreational, or other special case per the California Public Resources Code (PRC) Sections 5093.50 - 5093.71. Federally designated WSR streams are not included in this dataset. This dataset contains point features identifying endpoints of designated Wild and Scenic Rivers with USGS HydroLink attributes.

Department of Water Resources (DWR) makes no warranties or guarantees - either expressed or implied - as to the completeness, accuracy, or correctness of the data herein (subject data). DWR neither accepts nor assumes liability arising from or for any incorrect, incomplete, or misleading subject data or reproductions of the subject data. Users are prohibited from any commercial, non-free resale, or redistribution without explicit written permission from DWR. Users should acknowledge DWR as the source used in the creation of any reports, publications, new data sets, derived products, or services resulting from the use of the subject data. DWR expressly disclaims any responsibility to defend or indemnify users against claims of others based on users’ copying, reliance, distribution, or other use of any of the subject data. 
 
The subject data includes data from National Hydrography Dataset. Any data from U.S. Government sources is subject to any conditions, disclaimers, or other restrictions specified by the sources.

Tags: California, Public Resources Code, environment, hydro, hydrography, inland waters, legislative bill, recreational rivers, rivers, scenic rivers, streams, water, wild and scenic, wild rivers
Organization: California Department of Water Resources