River Monitoring Plan for the Yuba River Watershed

The Oroville Dam 2017 Spillway Incident: Lessons from the Feather River Basin

SYRCL’s 40th Anniversary Film YUBA IS THE HEART is now available to view.

Forty years ago, the South Yuba River Citizens League began caring for the South Yuba River by advocating for dam removal and gaining Wild and Scenic protection. Today, their work encompasses the entire Yuba River watershed – from the Sierra crest to the valley floor. To celebrate SYRCL’s fortieth anniversary, they commissioned a film from […]

What To Do About Daguerre Point Dam? 

The Daguerre Point Dam was built in 1906 by the Army Corps of Engineers to prevent the flow of debris from upstream mining operations into the Feather and Sacramento Rivers. But an archaic design and a lack of maintenance have made the dam a key obstruction to the traditional spawning habitat of native anadromous fish […]

Clean the Dam Ladders UPDATE

Daguerre Point Dam fish ladders On January 13, SYRCL released a call to the public for signatures on a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers asking them to clean and maintain the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam. On average, fewer than 3,000 Chinook salmon return to the lower Yuba River annually, which is […]

Daguerre Point Dam: A History of Obstructing Salmon

SYRCL is asking the Army Corps of Engineers to help threatened salmon reach their spawning grounds by cleaning the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam. A meager 1% of their historic population remains, which was once robust enough to feed communities, wildlife, and the forest. Below we offer context to our request by outlining some […]

Accepting Applications for Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship

Now Accepting Applications for the Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship! Since 2002, SYRCL has awarded $4,000 scholarships ($1,000/year for four years) annually to students who have demonstrated an impressive commitment to the environment. The recipients are distinguished by their service, academic achievements, and extra-curricular activities. We are excited to continue this tradition and expand our reach. […]

Update on Centennial Dam

Nevada Irrigation District (NID) is re-engaging in an effort to plan for their future water needs. The resulting plan will be known as the Plan for Water and the public process kicks off on November 9th at 4PM. The final version of the plan will reassess hydrology, water supply, and demand over the next 50 years. […]

Rising River Temps Imperil Threatened Salmon

We are well into another year of a drought here in Nevada County and its impacts are being felt throughout the watershed as reservoirs continue to recede and wildfires proliferate. As we have written about in previous articles here and here, the drought is also affecting the Yuba and the species that call it home, […]

NYFP’s Proposed Action & the NEPA Process

On or near September 10, 2021, the U.S. Forest Service will release the Notice of Intent for the North Yuba Landscape Resilience Project Environmental Impact Statement (the NOI). The NOI provides: 1) A description of the purpose and need of the project. The purpose and need of the project were developed by not only the […]

We stand with the AAPI community and condemn racism and violence.

In the last year, Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community has experienced 3800 reported incidents of violence, including verbal harassment, physical assault, civil rights violations, and online harassment according to @StopAAPIHate. This increase in violence has fostered fear for many in our communities as well as feelings of isolation. In this moment of uncertainty and […]

Profiling Inspiration: Women’s History Month

Women have repeatedly been at the forefront of the environmental movement as activists, authors, scientists, and artists. #WomensHistoryMonth reminds us to stop and celebrate these women by calling attention to their work. In this article, we honor three of the many women who have asked us to stop, change our perspective, and reconsider how we […]