Governance & Campaign | Sonoma County, CA | 2019–2023
Russian River Confluence
The Challenge
The Russian River watershed provides drinking water to more than 600,000 people, draws nearly a million recreational visitors annually, and supports a rich habitat for wildlife including 63 different species of fish. Yet for years, efforts to protect it had been fragmented — county, state and federal agencies, Tribes, and nonprofits all working in parallel with no shared framework for coordinating priorities or resources.
The Russian River Confluence had existed as a concept since 2017. It needed someone to bring it back to life — and make it durable enough to outlast any individual champion.
Building the Coalition
Elise took on the work of re-invigorating and expanding the Confluence into a functioning regional collaborative, convening stakeholders repeatedly and patiently across organizational cultures, jurisdictional boundaries, and deeply different institutional priorities. The coalition ultimately united:
Sonoma and Mendocino Counties
Tribal partners including the Kashia Pomo and Dry Creek Rancheria
The North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, three conservation districts, the Russian River Watershed Association, Russian Riverkeeper, Sonoma Land Trust, LandPaths, Conservation Works, and Visit Mendocino County — more than 12 organizations in all
Scientists, businesses, and community stakeholders across the watershed
The MOU
The anchor outcome was a Memorandum of Understanding — not a vague statement of shared values, but a governance document defining roles, commitments, and coordination structures across all participating organizations. Elise authored the final MOU and the associated legislation. The Sonoma County Board of Supervisors became the first stakeholder to approve the agreement, with Mendocino County and other partners adopting it in the weeks that followed.
Respect Russian River
Running alongside the governance work was a public-facing stewardship campaign Elise created to reconnect communities and visitors to the watershed. Similar to the "Keep Tahoe Blue" initiative, the Respect Russian River campaign called on visitors, residents, and businesses to clean up pollution, remove invasive species, recharge groundwater, and learn more about the importance of the watershed.
The campaign included a branded merchandise program — bumper stickers, T-shirts, water bottles, tote bags, pins, and other items available at local stores, with a portion of proceeds going to the Confluence's watershed revitalization efforts. Funding partnerships with Equality Vines extended the brand further, producing Respect Rosé and 110 West Coast Pils with proceeds directed to local environmental initiatives.
Community Stewardship Through Design
To extend the Respect Russian River campaign into the community, Elise transformed a retired aluminum canoe into a custom retail display and donated it to a local independent bookstore. The installation showcased watershed maps, educational materials, merchandise, and local partnerships—creating a permanent public touchpoint for watershed stewardship.
Scientific Infrastructure
Partnerships with the Russian River Regional Monitoring Program (R3MP) provided scientific information to aid long-term management decisions for the river's health — grounding the coalition's planning work in real watershed data.
The Legacy
The 2025 Russian River Confluence Convening brought together more than 50 watershed leaders — Tribal representatives, agency staff, nonprofit partners, and community members — the first such gathering since 2017. The collaborative Elise built continues to coordinate long-term watershed planning and regional resilience efforts.
The full body of work lives at russianriverconfluence.org.