California Water News Daily Your Source For Water News in California
Yuba Water Agency, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA Fisheries have formally signed the Yuba River Resilience Initiative. The landmark agreement, first announced in May 2023, is a comprehensive restoration plan for native fish in the Yuba River watershed that also safeguards water supplies for Yuba County farmers for decades.
“This is one of those rare situations where the fish, the environment and the farmers all win,” said Yuba Water General Manager Willie Whittlesey.
A key element of the agreement is a planned Nature-Like Fishway – a channel resembling a natural river – that salmon, steelhead, green and white sturgeon and Pacific lamprey can use to safely get around the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Daguerre Point Dam to reach more than 10 miles of healthy spawning habitat in the lower Yuba River.
It also includes a modernized water diversion at the dam that will protect fish while ensuring irrigators continue to have access to surface water needed to maintain South Yuba County’s vibrant agricultural economy.
The partners plan to begin constructing the project in early 2026.
A second component of the Yuba River Resilience Initiative is a reintroduction program to support recovery efforts of spring-run Chinook salmon in the North Yuba River above New Bullards Bar Dam.
That effort is being led by CDFW and the initial implementation, started as a pilot project last year, is already showing early signs of success. More than 500 juvenile spring run chinook salmon have been counted in recent months following the injection of salmon eggs across a 12-mile stretch of gravel riverbed of the North Yuba River just east of Downieville.
“When we come together – local, state and federal government – and focus on how we can work together to find creative solutions that will work for all of us, we can really accomplish great things,” Whittlesey said.
The agreement includes an initial Yuba Water investment of $30 million for construction of the Nature-like Fishway, totaling more than $100 million over time for maintenance, as well as ongoing support of salmon reintroduction efforts. CDFW has also committed $30 million toward the effort.
