Monday April 28, 2025
Sacramento Bee —
An agreement to build a waterway allowing fish to swim freely past a dam on the lower Yuba River has moved forward as part of an initiative that also includes returning a threatened salmon species to another part of the watershed.
Federal, state and local agencies have partnered on the potentially $100 million project and tout its goal of restoring access for a variety of fish species to parts of the river system walled off for more than a century.
“Together, these actions will help us fight challenges to fish health and repopulation in the Yuba River through creative, science-based solutions,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton “Chuck” Bonham, in a news release. “This initiative will also lead to better water supply reliability, as we modernize an old water diversion in a collaborative, comprehensive approach between water users and fisheries agencies.”
But local anglers have raised concerns about the project, fearing that the free-flowing bypass will allow predatory fish, particularly striped bass, to access a section of the river seen as a haven for certain species.