At SYRCL, we track Chinook salmon returns closely because healthy populations of this keystone species are a key indicator of a thriving river ecosystem. Through SYRCL’s participation in the River Management Team (RMT), our staff receives monthly updates on the number of Chinook and steelhead adults utilizing the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam.

This information is collected using VAKI River Watcher camera systems installed in the North and South ladders, which snap a photo every time a fish swims past it.  

Chinook salmon returns this year are off to a much slower start than last year. 

2026 feels like a bit more of a return to previous years in terms of salmon numbers. Excluding the record setting 2025, we’re a little behind the average year-to-date passage number going back to 2018.  

Why the variability?  

There are numerous factors that contribute to whether the return of spawning adults is large or small in a given year. A big factor is how wet or dry the previous years have been. Other important factors include availability of healthy food sources while they spend 2-3 years in the ocean and the intensity of pressure from predators. Water temperature in a river also plays a role as salmon will preferentially choose colder water to spawn in as lower temps are critical for the development of chinook salmon eggs.

Unfortunately, for the beginning of the 2026-27 salmon year water temperatures in the Yuba were about 2 degrees Celsius higher than in the Feather River at the confluence. This is a large enough difference that some returning Yuba-born salmon may have chosen to spawn in the Feather instead of their home water. 

The good news: as October progressed, water temperatures in the Yuba and Feather Rivers began to converge. We hope this means an uptick in spawning adults as we move into the heart of the salmon season. 

The adults we’re seeing in the Yuba River this year were most likely born in 2022 and 2023. These years illustrate the story of our future climate well: a critically dry year followed by a winter for the record books.  

SYRCL’s salmon habitat restoration work 

Fortunately, SYRCL’s lower Yuba restoration work restores the crucial floodplain habitat so that juvenile salmon can spend time on it regardless of water-year type. During wet and dry years, juveniles have more than 40 acres of accessible habitat above Daguerre Point Dam and more than 100 acres below it thanks to SYRCL and our restoration partners’ work.  

One thing we also know that gives juvenile salmon a leg up in their survival is the availability of floodplain rearing habitat after they hatch. They are utilizing the new habitat at the Lower Long Bar project and Hallwood project. And, the juveniles this year will find even more habitat at our recently completed Upper Long Bar project. 

Variability in salmon returns demonstrates that recovery is far from finished. These fish still face climate-driven challenges: warming water temperatures, reduced snowpack, and unpredictable ocean conditions. The floodplain habitat we’ve restored helps, but it’s only the beginning.

SYRCL continues to plan new restoration projects, monitor fish populations, advocate for policies that protect cold water flows, and collaborate with partners across the watershed to ensure salmon have what they need to survive.  

You can be a part of the next chapter of salmon recovery in the Yuba. Become a SYRCL member. Join us and together we can invest in the work that keeps the salmon coming home.