Friday July 1, 2022
South Yuba River Citizens League —
As the three forks of the Yuba converge, they create what is commonly referred to as the Lower Yuba River stretching 21 miles from Englebright Dam to Marysville before joining the Feather River. This 21-mile stretch of the Lower Yuba River is one of the most unique ecosystems in the Sierra as it is home to the last spawning grounds for wild threatened salmon and steelhead trout on the Yuba River.
During the Gold Rush era, hydraulic mining sediments flooded the Lower Yuba River covering hundreds of acres of habitat under rocks and sediment. An estimated 634 million cubic yards of sediment enter the Yuba River, that’s about double the amount of earth removed to carve out the Panama Canal. Given the amount of disturbance the lower Yuba River was subjected to, many believed the river was too degraded to be restored.
SYRCL was not one of those naysayers. And now the restoration project has begun!