Yuba River Habitat Restoration Agreement

A framework agreement between Yuba Water Agency and state and federal agencies details one of the most ambitious watershed recovery efforts in California, which will also safeguard water supplies from the Yuba River for decades to come.

The agreement was announced during a joint press conference held on the lower Yuba River in Yuba County with California Governor Gavin Newsom, California Department of Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, Director of California Department of Fish and Wildlife Chuck Bonham, Cathy Marcinkevage, the assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region, and Willie Whittlesey, general manager of Yuba Water. 

Yuba Water, CDFW and NOAA Fisheries will partner on a comprehensive restoration agreement for the Yuba River, which includes a unique project to help salmon and other threatened fish get around Daguerre Point Dam in the lower Yuba River.

The collaborative agreement includes major actions to help recover imperiled fish:

• Construction of a new fishway – a channel resembling a natural river that salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and lamprey can follow to get around the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Daguerre Point Dam to reach more than 10 miles of healthy spawning habitat in the lower Yuba River.
• Construction of a modernized water diversion at Daguerre Point Dam to supply irrigation water south of the lower Yuba River that will protect fish passing the intake. 
• Initiation of a comprehensive reintroduction program to support recovery efforts of spring-run Chinook salmon with a goal of returning them to their original habitat in the North Yuba River above New Bullards Bar Reservoir as soon as 2025.

The agencies agreed in principle to the terms, a comprehensive restoration plan and initial funding that will, together, provide the ingredients of a final settlement.

Photo: Yuba Water General Manager Willie Whittlesey, Director of California Department of Fish and Wildlife Chuck Bonham and Cathy Marcinkevage, the assistant regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region sign a term sheet for the ambitious Yuba River restoration plan. 

The parties also agreed to future coordination related to ongoing federal license proceedings for Yuba Water’s existing hydropower facilities and to support the agency’s Lower Yuba River Accord instream flow proposal. That will provide more reliable and consistent river flows, increasing the chances the species will again spawn and rear in the habitat.

Half of the $60 million committed to this project will come from funding proposed by the Newsom Administration and appropriated to CDFW by the California Legislature for river connectivity and salmon benefits. The other half will be covered by Yuba Water.

Currently, two federal dams built to control the devastating impacts of Gold Rush-era mining prevent native fish species such as Chinook salmon and green sturgeon from reaching their historic spawning grounds in the Yuba River watershed. Daguerre Point Dam (built in 1910) currently allows only limited passage for some fish species and Englebright Dam (built in 1941) is a complete barrier to fish passage to the upper Yuba River watershed. Both dams are owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The agencies’ collaborative implementation of the restoration plan will promote Chinook salmon recovery by improving access to currently limited habitats in the Yuba River watershed. This will be accomplished through the construction of a channel resembling a natural river that will bypass Daguerre Point Dam for volitional passage to spawning and rearing habitat in the lower watershed and by promoting the reintroduction of Chinook salmon into their native habitat in the upper watershed above New Bullards Bar Reservoir through a comprehensive reintroduction program.

An aerial photo of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Daguerre Point Dam and Yuba Water's south canal diversion on the lower Yuba River. The new channel will be located on the right side of the dam.

A rendering of the new channel resembling a natural river that salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and lamprey can follow to get around Daguerre Point Dam to reach more than 10 miles of healthy spawning habitat in the lower Yuba River.

The agencies are prepared to hit the ground running by immediately initiating implementation of the agreement with the goal of reintroducing spring-run Chinook salmon in the North Yuba River by 2025. In combination, the actions in the restoration plan represent an unprecedented effort to improve habitat conditions and contribute to the recovery of historic fish runs to this watershed. 

CDFW, Yuba Water Agency and NOAA Fisheries expect to finalize a settlement based on the framework agreement by the end of 2023. 

Related documents and information

• Term Sheet for Framework of Settlement Agreement for Yuba River Habitat Restoration Plan
• Draft Framework North Yuba River Spring-run Chinook Reintroduction Plan
• Lower Yuba River at Daguerre Point Dam Nature-Like Fishway and Water Supply Facilities Preliminary Restoration Plan
• Governor's Press Office Release: Governor Newsom Announces Agreement to Reopen Yuba River to Salmon and Launch River Restoration
• Yuba Water and CDFW Joint News Release: Agreement Reopens Yuba River To Salmon And Sturgeon, Launching Ambitious River Restoration

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