Sustainable agriculture and the rural quality of life are top priorities in the community, and to NFRIA.

Agriculture in the valley is dependent on irrigation from the North Fork. However, the unstable nature of the river has caused extensive damage to irrigation facilities and most farmers cannot afford to repair them properly. In the past, ditch companies would inadvertently contribute to this destabilization by hiring bulldozers for a few hours every summer to construct temporary gravel “push-up” dams to divert their decreed amount of water into irrigation canals and ditches.