Newsom Announces Yuba River Restoration Plan to Build a Channel for Salmon

Water flows over the Feather River Fish Barrier dam as it diverts Chinook Salmon up a fish ladder to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Feather River Hatchery below the Lake Oroville dam in Oroville, Calif., on May 27, 2021. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images)

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced on Tuesday a $60 million plan to build a channel to open the Yuba River up so salmon and other threatened fish species can swim along the river’s dam.

The channel resembling a natural river would stretch 10 to 12 miles of habitat upstream, blocking the salmon migration route along the Yuba River.

“This is a big commitment, a $60 million project. We hope to get it done in the next few years,” Newsom said during the press conference.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), Yuba Water Agency, and the federal NOAA Fisheries agency are working together to help boost survival rates for endangered salmon and other fish species living in the river beds, as the dam has impeded their passage for more than a century.

Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a press conference in Dunnigan, Calif., on March 24, 2023. (Courtesy of the Office of Gov. Gavin Newsom)

“California is taking action to restore vital habitats and return fish to their historic home—turning the page on outdated water infrastructure that has blocked passage for these fish for over a century. Together with historic investments, we’re restoring crucial waterways across our state and laying the groundwork for a salmon resurgence that’s not only good for fish, but a lifeline for the communities and Native peoples who rely on a healthy fish population,” Newsom said in a statement.

Building a modernized water diversion at Daguerre Point Dam would also supply irrigation water south of the lower Yuba River that will protect fish passing the intake.

Newsom is also launching a comprehensive reintroduction program to support recovery efforts of spring-run Chinook salmon to return them to their original habitat in the North Yuba River above New Bullards Bar Reservoir by 2025.

The fish bypass will follow the original path of the Yuba River before the federal government constructed a submerged concrete dam to contain mining debris and sediment in the early 1900s, officials said.

“The fishway at DaGuerre Point will be an unprecedented action to restore habitat and contribute to the recovery of threatened species by providing unobstructed passage to habitat that’s been incredibly challenging for them to access,” Willie Whittlesey, general manager of the Yuba Water Agency said alongside Newsom at the press conference.

The state will pay for half of the project, while the Yuba Water Agency will fund the rest, as the state’s portion will come from $100 million in salmon restoration funding it invested last year, the governor’s office said.

“Within a few decades, Gold Rush mining created impacts that have lasted over 150 years. We’re finally taking action to reverse those impacts,” Whittlesey added said.

The $60 million project, approved by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Yuba Water Agency, is designed to decrease the risk of extinction for threatened species.

Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League, called the plan to maneuver the fish around the river’s upper dam a ‘trap and haul.’ But expressed optimism about the fishway effort that his organization has worked on for years.

“I think there’s a lot of potential good to happen from this agreement, certainly,” Zettler-Mann told the Sacramento Bee. “We are optimistic but skeptical about the reintroduction above New Bullards.” The Chinook salmon will be released into the river north of the New Bullards Bar Dam and Reservoir.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Yuba Water Agency, and NOAA Fisheries said they expect to finalize a settlement based on the agreement by the end of 2023.

“The Upper Yuba is arguably the best opportunity to get a viable, self-sustaining spring-run Chinook salmon population,” Cathy Marcinkevage, assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries, said at the press conference.

“That is critical, not just to the recovery of the species, but at this point probably to its survival,” she added. “This is really a game changer.”