You can view some photos of our trip down the Lower Yuba here.
The Yuba River will kick off our campaign as our first river in January of 2012 in conjunction with the Wild and Scenic Film Festival.
The Yuba River has been named one of America’s most endangered rivers as of May 2011 due to the inaccessability of critical salmon habitat. There are two federal dams on the Yuba River that prevent salmon and steelhead from reaching spawning grounds, one of them being the Engelbright Dam. In order to take steps toward wild salmon population rehabilitation in California, it is imperative that salmon be able to access the Yuba above the dam. Aside from preventing access to critical fish habitat, the dams reduce stream flow levels and alter amphibian and fish habitat. Overall, hydropower dams are a major threat to endangered salmon in the Northern Sierra region.
Yuba River Statistics
- Watershed area: 3113 square kilometers
- Dams: 32
- Powerhouses: 11
- (http://hydra.ucdavis.edu/watershed/yuba)
- Supplies 480.000 residents with drinking water
- Irrigates thousands of acres of agricultural land
- South Fork of the Yuba attracts 500,000 visitors a year
- Critical habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead
- (americanrivers.org)
