Steve Rothert
California Regional Director
Department: Conservation
Area of Focus: Steve has served as Director of American Rivers' California Regional Office since 2002. In addition to overseeing office operations, he manages American Rivers' programs in California related to hydropower reform, anadromous fish restoration, dam removal, climate change and water supply.
Background: Steve joined American Rivers in 2001. Prior to that he directed the Southern Africa Program for International Rivers Network based in Botswana, was Director of the national Hydropower Reform Coalition, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the fisheries program in Sierra Leone, West Africa.
Education: B.S. in Ecology from University of California at Los Angeles, and M.S. in River Sciences from University of California-Berkeley
Favorite River: North Fork American River
Blog Posts By This Author
Under Attack: The Wild and Scenic Merced River
March 7, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal, Wild and Scenic Rivers
Representatives Tom McClintock and Jim Costa have introduced legislation (H.R. 934) that would roll back protections for nearly a mile of the Wild and Scenic Merced River in order to raise Merced Irrigation District’s 479-ft New Exchequer Dam. The Merced River was protected under the Wild & Scenic Rivers Act in 1992, which prohibits the construction of dams that affect designated rivers.
Read more »American Rivers Opposes Raising Shasta Dam
February 7, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal, Wild and Scenic Rivers
The Bureau of Reclamation has studied the feasibility of raising its 602 ft high Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River to increase the dam’s storage capacity. For several reasons including the two we outline here, American Rivers opposes the raising of Shasta Dam as proposed.
Read more »Stanford University Under Investigation for Possible Endangered Species Act Violations
January 8, 2013 | Dams & Dam Removal
The National Marine Fisheries Service has launched an investigation into whether Stanford University's operation of Searsville Dam has violated the Endangered Species Act by harming steelhead trout and other species threatened with extinction. Located on the Stanford campus in Palo Alto, CA, the dam blocks steelhead from migrating to 20 miles of spawning habitat upstream, it dewaters Corte Madera Creek below the dam, degrades water quality and habitat downstream and causes other negative impacts that harm species threatened with extinction.
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