How We Work

Who We Are

The Tulare Basin Watershed Network is a coalition of leaders and practitioners from the agriculture and food industry, water management, ecological and conservation groups, and socio-economic interests. They range from local, regional, state, and federal agencies and organizations and seek to protect and enhance the watersheds and resources we all depend upon.

Our purpose is to generate and implement integrated, inclusive, and innovative solutions to advance ecosystem and watershed resilience and socio-economic sustainability.

  • An Appreciative and Respectful Approach to All Stakeholders.
    We fully appreciate the contributions, as well as the challenges, of stakeholders. We also see areas for enhancement for all, especially the systems we each work within, to continue to help our region become as resilient and sustainable as possible. Farmers, water managers, workers, environmental and socio-economic groups, government agencies, and many more have vital roles to play.

  • Active support, coordination and amplification of relevant efforts in the region.

  • Increasing Levels Of Collaboration Is Key To Our Collective And Individual Success.
    While the left side of the spectrum has its place, as challenges mount and opportunities emerge there is major value in shifting efforts toward the right side of the spectrum.

  • Fostering a locally-determined landscape-scale stewardship approach for both resources and the systems that generate or support them.
    We see an important role for nature-based solutions and ‘natural infrastructure’  to complement engineered (aka “gray”) infrastructure to enhance and diversify all water resources, including better balancing of demand with predicted supplies.

  • Cultivating a healthy relationship with the land, ecosystems, and other'’ rights.
    We seek to increasingly integrate which draws upon both Indigenous knowledge and scientific knowledge to improve our capacities to protect, restore and regenerate.

  • Pursuing collaborative action, “learning by doing” to foster solutions that work across jurisdictions not otherwise possible.

  • Alignment with Federal, State, Tribal and local policies, plans, and funding where appropriate.

Where We Work

The Network is focused on the entire Tulare Basin, from the headwaters to the groundwaters, and are especially interested in the health and resilience of the major rivers, including The Kings, Kaweah, Tule and Kern.

Located in California's southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tulare Basin encompasses portions of Fresno, Kern, Kings, and Tulare Counties.

More than 16 rivers and creeks flow from surrounding mountains into the Basin’s small lakes and wetlands, which once comprised the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River, the historic Tulare Lake.

The watershed is bounded on the north by the San Joaquin River, on the west by the crest of the Inner Coast Range, on the east by the crest of the Sierra Nevada, and on the south by the crest of the Tehachapi range.

This watershed is approximately 134 miles east to west, 163 miles north to south, covers almost 22,000 square miles, and ranges in elevation from 163 feet above sea level at Mendota Pool to 14,505 feet on the summit of Mt. Whitney.