Community Partner Education Programs

Yuba Water partners with dozens of local and regional groups on water education initiatives and programming. Here’s a snapshot of a few of these programs.

Salmon Expeditions

Through a Yuba Water Agency grant, South Yuba River Citizens League naturalists take fourth graders from Yuba County schools on a day-long rafting adventure on the Yuba River. The students learn about the Nisenan tribe that historically called the Yuba River watershed their home, the Gold Rush and hydraulic mining damage to the river, the life-cycle of a salmon, the other wildlife that rely on the Yuba River to survive and much more.

Fish in the Classroom

The Fish in the Classroom education program has been educating young students about fish and the Yuba River watershed for more than 30 years. The program places tanks with young salmon in classrooms, so students can study the fish with the goal of eventually being able to release them into the wild. The tanks are equipped with Arctic Chillers to maintain cool temperatures that salmon need to thrive. The units continue to be utilized in classrooms all around the area and Yuba Water continues to support the program and educating Yuba County's youth.

Learning Science Through Art

Learning Science Through Art water education program was a partnership between Yuba Water and Yuba Sutter Arts and Culture that teaches local students about the Yuba River through science and art projects. The program focused on supplementing second- and third-grade curriculum at Yuba County schools, to include more science and art-based projects that meet state education requirements while increasing awareness about the environment and the Yuba River watershed.

Yuba Water is working with Yuba Sutter Arts and Culture to amend the program to focus solely on the arts but tie in directly to the science lessons developed as part of the new watershed curriculum program. Additional information on this partnership will be shared in the future.

Water Wizards

Rotary Club of Marysville and Yuba Water Agency partnered with the Sutter-Yuba 4-H Youth Development Program on a pilot program to provide water education in the classroom for sixth graders in Yuba County.

Water Wizards is a 12-week program that teaches students about the Yuba River Watershed through hands-on projects. Participants learn about the water cycle, water usage, pollution and water properties through building models, conducting experiments and making observations.

The program launched at McKenney Intermediate School in Marysville in 2019 and may be expanded to other schools in the future.

Other Community Partnership Opportunities

Yuba Water has committed to investing $10 million a year into local programs and projects that align with our core mission areas with a goal of improving the quality of life for the people of Yuba County. This includes grants for water education. 

Nonprofits, tribes and other government agencies can apply for grants to fund projects or programs that have a direct connection to our missions. Recent grantees include the South Yuba River Citizens League for support of their Salmon Expeditions, the Sutter-Yuba 4-H Water Wizards Program and others. Learn more about our grant program and application windows here.