Nevada City, CA –

In 2006, SYRCL and Friends of the River sued the federal government to demand better protection for the Yuba’s endangered fish.  That effort bore fruit when, in February 2012, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) released a formal decision, called the Biological Opinion, finding that two Army Corps of Engineers dams–Englebright and Daguerre Point–on the Yuba River are jeopardizing the survival and recovery of these three anadromous fish species. The Biological Opinion required the Army Corps to take specific actions to reduce harm and threat of extinction to the fish.

Unfortunately the Army Corps has repeatedly stated that it does not intend to comply with these new requirements.  Last week the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) filed a 60-day notice of its intent to file a lawsuit against NMFS and the Army Corps over the Biological Opinion. Both YCWA and the Army Corps disagree with the Biological Opinion and have challenged it on legal and technical grounds.

“We are deeply disappointed with the Army Corps’ inaction and YCWA’s determination to roll back the Biological Opinion. These two factors combine to threaten the survival of these endangered fish,” said SYRCL’s Executive Director Caleb Dardick.

SYRCL issued a notice of intent to file suit today in order to be able to returrn to federal court in 60 days, should attempts fail to persuade the Army Corps to drop its opposition to the Biological Opinion’s requirements and begin implementing them instead.  Along with the notice letter, SYRCL has requested a meeting with the major stakeholders to explore collaborative solutions.

“Although the Army Corps claims that the Biological Opinion requires actions that are outside of their authority, NMFS took care to enumerate the many laws and regulations that give the Corps the necessary authority,” said Christopher Sproul at Environmental Advocates, lead counsel for SYRCL.  “SYRCL’s letter of notice is not a lawsuit, and in fact SYRCL is interested in a collaborative resolution that will bring the Corps into compliance with the Endangered Species Act and put Yuba fish species on a path to survival and recovery.”

NMFS has expressly recognized that the Yuba River provides one of the best opportunities in the state for restoring salmon and steelhead. Their Biological Opinion imposes detailed requirements for securing fish passage past Daguerre and Englebright Dams. For example, the Army Corps must commence implementing some form of upstream fish passage past Englebright by March 2014, and must secure long-term fish passage past Englebright by January 2020. They must also secure long-term improved fish passage past Daguerre within five years. The Biological Opinion imposes several other important fish protective measures as well.

“Instead of battling this out in court, we invite the Army Corps and YCWA to work collaboratively with NMFS and SYRCL to restore healthy runs of wild salmon and steelhead that will rebuild California’s fisheries, foster economic development, and create jobs,” said SYRCL board president John Regan.

“The historic Yuba Accord demonstrated how disputes can be resolved collaboratively for the benefit of all interests, and should serve as a model for cooperative approaches to the improvement and evaluation of fisheries habitat,” says SYRCL River Science Director Gary Reedy, who represents conservation interests on the Yuba Accord River Management Team convened and funded by YCWA.

Spring-run Chinook salmon were once plentiful in the Central Valley, with over 600,000 returning to their natal streams each year. But the construction of impassable dams in the 20th Century reduced the historic spawning habitat available to the species by 95%, resulting in substantial population declines. In 2011, fewer than 5,000 spring Chinook returned to the Central Valley, a reduction of over 99% from historical levels. Removing barriers to upstream fish passage is urgently needed to halt this continuing slide towards extinction.

The Biological Opinion finds that the Army Corps’ Daguerre Point and Englebright dams have contributed to population declines for the three species, due mainly to the fact that the dams block the fish from migrating upstream to adequate spawning habitat. Forced to spawn in limited habitat below Englebright Dam, salmon currently suffer from competition for scarce spawning space, disruption of gravel spawning nests, and interbreeding with hatchery strays and other runs. This is diminishing their genetic vigor, resulting in weaker fish stocks.  Daguerre Point Dam is a complete barrier to the upstream migration of green sturgeon.

For more information and a copy of the Biological Opinion, YCWA’s notice letter, and other documents, please visit www.yubasalmonnow.org on the resource page.

Chinook salmon in Yuba River (J.Katz)

SYRCL’s work to restore salmon was highlighted at the recent annual conference of the Salmonid Restoration Federation, the single organization dedicated to restoring salmonids (salmon and trout) in California. Here in the most populated state, at the southern extent of salmon’s range, the challenges are daunting.  The Yuba River featured prominently in the conference, validating SYRCL’s work in advocating for and developing the full range of needed actions: unimpeded fish passage at dam sites, return of diverted water to instream flows, restoration of river and floodplain habitats, protection of water quality, and curtailment of unsustainable hatchery practices. 

 The conference included two workshops highlighting the prospect of returning salmon to the upper Yuba River, now a requirement of the Army Corps of Engineers due to the new Biological Opinion on Englebright Dam.  Biologists for the National Marine Fisheries Service explained this prospect in talks titled “Then Need for Fish Passage Above Rim Dams in the Central Valley” and “Anadromous Fish Passage Opportunities in the Yuba River.”  On the final day of the conference, a session titled Dam Removal to Benefit Salmonid Populations was attended by more than 100 professionals wanting to see how dam removals in Oregon and Washington may inform similar projects in California.  Englebright Dam would be the largest yet planned for removal.

 Two technical sessions in the conference convened practitioners of habitat restoration with a focus on the kind of riparian and floodplain restoration that SYRCL is leading on the lower Yuba River.  SYRCL’s Hammon Bar Riparian Enhancement Project is a pilot for one method to help rehabilitate the Goldfield portion of the Yuba River, and enhance rearing habitat for juvenile salmon and steelhead.  Such projects are crucial to increasing the diversity and survival of wild salmon in California where more than 95% of riparian and floodplain habitats are lost or impaired.

 The problem of hatcheries was squarely addressed in a session convened by Jacob Katz of UC Davis.  Fish biologists have become increasingly certain that hatchery are substantially inferior to wild fish, and allowing them to mix on spawning grounds deteriorates the genetic integrity of the wild population.  Shockingly, 90% of the salmon now returning to Central Valley Rivers are raised in hatcheries. This damaging and unsustainable condition has resulted from continued hatchery practices focused on production (including the trucking of juveniles to the San Francisco Bay to give an advantage of survival) despite continued declines in wild fish.  Expect to see SYRCL, in alliance with other conservation groups, fighting for protection of wild salmon through hatchery reform.

 The conference plenary inspired us to see the challenges more holistically, and recognize the progress being made. Jim Lichatowich, author of Salmon Without Rivers, moved beyond his emeritus credentials as a salmon biologist, when urging us to consider that the opportunity is one of “ecological companionship” and that people need salmon in their local rivers in order to completely live here. The new Director of the California Department of Fish and Game, Chuck Bonham, received a standing ovation for his motivational leadership for the department at the center of our collective mission. 

 Never, in the 30-yr history has the Federation been stronger.  Never, have we had a DFG Director, Resources Agency Director and Governor more in support of recovering salmon. Now is the time to face all these challenges with resolve, across this southern state of Salmon Nation, and at home here on the Yuba.

Nevada City, CA

The decision, known as a biological opinion, was issued as the result of a lawsuit filed in 2006 by the South Yuba River Citizens League (“SYRCL”) and Friends of the River. In 2010, federal judge Lawrence K. Karlton found the previous biological opinion did not comply with the Endangered Species Act and required NMFS to conduct a new analysis which it released on Wednesday.

SYRCL Executive Director Caleb Dardick said, “The new biological opinion is an important first step towards preventing the extinction of Yuba River salmon, steelhead and sturgeon. These threatened fish need to be able to move freely upstream of Daguerre Point and Englebright dams to the upper Yuba River watershed.”

Spring-run Chinook salmon were once plentiful in the Central Valley, with over 600,000 returning to their natal streams each year. But the construction of impassable dams in the 20th Century reduced the habitat available to the species by 80%, resulting in substantial population declines. In 2011, fewer than 5,000 spring Chinook returned to the Central Valley, a reduction of over 99% from historical levels. Removing barriers to upstream fish passage is urgently needed to halt this continuing slide toward extinction.

Dardick emphasized that the biological opinion itself will not save the Yuba River fish, unless the Corps actually complies with the requirements. “What is crucial now is for the agencies with responsibility over these dams to show leadership by fully implementing the actions outlined in the biological opinion without delay,” he said.

The biological opinion finds that the Corps’ Daguerre Point and Englebright dams have contributed to population declines for the three species, due mainly to the fact that the dams block the fish from migrating upstream to adequate spawning habitat. By forcing the fish to spawn in degraded and inadequate spawning habitat below Englebright Dam, salmon suffer from competition for scarce spawning space, disruption of gravel spawning nests, and interbreeding with hatchery strays and other runs, which is diminishing the fishes’ genetic vigor, resulting in weaker fish stocks.  Daguerre Point Dam is a complete barrier to the upstream migration of green sturgeon.

Based on these and other findings, NMFS concludes that the Corps of Engineers must take a number of actions to reduce the harm being caused to the threatened species. Most importantly, the biological opinion requires the Corps to implement a program to provide fish passage past the dams by 2020. In addition, the biological opinion calls for annual additions of spawning gravel below Englebright Dam to replace gravels captured by the dam and the restoration of habitat through removal of rock debris left over from the construction of the dam more than 70 years ago.

“The authorities responsible for recovering threatened fish stocks have accurately assessed the situation on the Yuba River and finally required actions that will substantially reduce extinction risk for Central Valley populations of salmon, steelhead and sturgeon” says Gary Reedy, Fisheries Biologist and Science Director for SYRCL.  “The new requirements include a variety of helpful short-term measures, and yet full fish passage is what is needed to actually avoid the substantial harm to the survival and recovery of the species being caused by Daguerre and Englebright dams, as the biological opinion concludes.”

Echoing the biological opinion’s call for collaboration among all stakeholders, Caleb Dardick pledged his organization’s commitment to working together to find the most effective means of achieving the biological opinion’s mandates. “We believe this decision signals that the preservation of these species is not the responsibility of any one organization alone, but of all parties in the Yuba River watershed,” Dardick said. He pledged his organization’s support for efforts to secure congressional appropriations, where needed, for the implementation of these projects and for participation in all stakeholder planning proceedings.

“Although the Corps claims that the biological opinion requires actions that are outside of the Corps’ authority, NMFS took care to enumerate the various laws and Corps regulations which give the Corps the necessary authority,” said Christopher Sproul at Environmental Advocates, lead counsel for SYRCL in the lawsuit.

For a copy of the Biological Opinion, please click here; also recent coverage in theSacramento Bee.

Read the letter here.

Cover of postcard to National Marine Fisheries Service

SYRCL has mailed over 500 postcards to agencies that have the authority to create fish passage for salmon above Englebright Dam and provide cold water flows to restore salmon and steelhead to the upper Yuba River Watershed.  Restoring salmon to the upper Yuba River will require many bold actions and SYRCL is leading the way by allowing citizens to comment directly to the key agencies on decision points. Of the two current postcards, one is addressed to the Regional Administrator of National Marine Fisheries Service and includes a detailed request: Require the Army Corps of Engineers to provide fish passage for salmon and steelhead at Englebright Dam.  This opportunity for such a requirement stems from SYRCLs successful legal action requiring a new Biological Opinion for the dam due February 29.  The second postcard is addressed to the US Forest Service and requests that the agency use its authority from the Federal Power Act to require PG&E and the Nevada Irrigation District to release enough water into the South and Middle Yuba Rivers to provide necessary habitat for salmon.  Currently, more than 80% of the water is diverted by these hydropower projects and the rivers are too warm to support salmon.  These projects must obtain new federal licenses to operate by 2013.

SYRCL thanks all the participants in this year’s actions at Wild and Scenic, and invites anyone interested in participating in our ongoing actions to restore wild salmonids in the Yuba Watershed to visit our office at 216 Main St. Nevada City, CA.

Fish Ladder at Daguerre Dam

This year salmon will have additional help when they navigate the fish ladder over Daguerre Point Dam on their way to spawning grounds in the Lower Yuba River.  Last week, federal Judge Lawrence K. Karlton directed the Army Corps of Engineers to improve fish passage at Daguerre by optimizing flows through the fish ladder, more diligently removing clogged debris, and installing protective grates to prevent poaching.  Additionally, the Army Corps is required to develop a plan for segregating spring-run salmon from stray hatchery salmon.  A recent Sacramento Bee article on the decision reports SYRCL’s lead role in this victory.  Daguerre is literally the first step in restoring salmon to the Wild and Scenic Yuba River.  Just upstream, Englebright Dam is a much higher step that keeps all salmon out of their historic range in the upper watershed.  SYRCL advocated for these interim measures in the lower Yuba to protect spring-run Chinook salmon and steelhead trout that are threatened with extinction.  Experts agree that recovery of these populations will require access to historic habitats above Englebright Dam, and SYRCL will continue to work toward that goal.  In the meantime, this new victory will benefit all Yuba River salmon, including fall-run.  Please join one of SYRCL’s autumn salmon tours to celebrate this victory for salmon and for SYRCL, and cross your fingers for a bumper salmon year in the lower Yuba!

For Immediate Release:  August 8, 2011

Nevada County Native Caleb Dardick Chosen New SYRCL Executive Director

Contact:               John Regan, SYRCL Board Vice President, 530.265.5255

Kim Milligan, SYRCL Interim Executive Director, 530.265.5961 ext. 207

Caleb Dardick, SYRCL's New Executive Director

“We are thrilled to welcome Caleb back home to the Yuba Watershed.  His expertise in community outreach, advocacy and strategic campaigns in the non-profit, government and business sectors make
Caleb the ideal person to lead SYRCL’s efforts to protect and restore the Yuba and bring wild salmon back to their ancestral waters,” Soderstrom said.

Dardick grew up on the San Juan Ridge and is the son of former two-term Nevada County Supervisor and disability rights activist Sam Dardick, who passed away in May, and Geeta Dardick, a marriage and family therapist.  Caleb managed his father’s first campaign for Supervisor and remains deeply connected to the county.  A graduate of Nevada Union High School, Caleb earned a B.A. in History with honors at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

“Dad taught me that an engaged community is the best defender of our rural quality of life,” said Caleb. “He always focused on what unites people, which in Nevada County is a shared love for the place. I am excited to be joining SYRCL’s many stewards and advocates for this magnificent Yuba River watershed, and to have this opportunity to give back to the community where I grew up.”

For nearly a decade, Caleb provided public relations and public affairs consulting to a broad range of clients in business, government, the nonprofit sector and politics.  Dardick helped guide an array of community-serving projects to completion, including the Ed Roberts Campus, a community center for people with disabilities, and the David Brower Center, a center for environmental nonprofits.

For the past two years, Caleb has served as Director of Local Government and Community Relations for UC Berkeley’s Office of the Chancellor, where he facilitated positive community engagement in what has frequently been a challenging town-gown environment.

Soderstrom said Dardick will continue SYRCL’s legacy of strong Executive Directors who combine a passion for protecting the South Yuba River, experience in advocacy and coalition-building, and a dedication to SYRCL’s roots in the community.  Soderstrom noted that the next few years will mark significant milestones for the organization, which has 3,500 annual members and volunteers and enjoys widespread support in the business community.

“2011 is the 10^th anniversary of Wild and Scenic River designation, 2012 marks the 10^th anniversary of the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival, which has grown to become the largest environmental film festival in the country, and in 2013 SYRCL will celebrate the 30^th anniversary of its founding in 1983,” Soderstrom said.  “And we’re celebrating each of these milestones with a native son of the Yuba at our helm!”

Soderstrom also noted that federal operating licenses on dams throughout the Yuba Watershed are up for renewal in the next few years, providing an historic opportunity to improve conditions for endangered Chinook salmon that spawn in the lower Yuba River. SYRCL is also hailing a recent ruling by federal Judge Lawrence K. Karlton directing the Army Corps of Engineers to improve salmon passage at Daguerre Point Dam and requiring the Army Corps to develop a plan to protect wild native spring-run salmon from stray hatchery salmon – a key victory in SYRCL’s long battle to restore the Yuba River’s fishery, which is home to the largest self-sustaining run of wild Chinook salmon in the entire Central Valley.

SYRCL is the leading voice for the protection and restoration of the Yuba River and greater Yuba Watershed.  Come help clean up the Yuba River and meet SYRCL’s new Executive Director, Caleb Dardick, by signing up for SYRCL’s 14^th annual Greater Yuba Clean-Up and Restoration Day on Saturday, September 17^th.  Registration for your favorite site begins August 20 online at www.yubariver.org.  Caleb will begin as Executive Director of SYRCL beginning September 12, 2011.

First, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), PG&E and the Nevada Irrigation District are holding an “environmental site review” of hydropower operations in the upper watershed.  The public is welcome to this tour, which starts at 8 am at the Discovery Trail in Bear Valley.

Directions from Nevada City:  Take hwy. 20 East to Bowman Road, turn left, and drive a little over 1/2 mile to the Discovery Trail parking lot.

Second, SYRCL is holding its first orientation meeting for a summer campaign to recover salmon to the Yuba on Thursday, July 7th, beginning at 5:30 pm.  If you are interested in helping build public support for recovering salmon, please don’t miss this vital orientation!

The meeting will be held at SYRCL’s offices (216 Main St., Nevada City) at 5:30 pm on Thursday, July 7th.