Each year, SYRCL releases an Impact Report that details the work we have done over the course of the previous year.
River Monitoring
Throughout most of the year, the brilliantly colored Sierra newt (Taricha sierrae) lives on land, hunting and eating insects, earthworms, and slugs and hiding from any potential predators in the moist soil beneath rocks and logs. In the winter and spring, however, these members of the family Salamandridae become aquatic, returning to the pond or stream where they were born in search of a good time.
On January 13, SYRCL released our call to the public for signatures on our letter to the Army Corps of Engineers asking them to clean and maintain the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam.
During the 20 days the letter was open, we collected 700 signatures from 28 different states.
SYRCL is beginning its 22nd River Monitoring season trainings on March 24th and April 2nd. Join our team and help us celebrate 21 years of this indispensable tradition!
Want to know more about the action asking the Army Corps of Engineers to clean the Daguerre Point Dam fish ladders? Check out our FAQs.
You may have noticed the new storm drain markers across Nevada City. SYRCL has been installing these markers over the past few years, and we have finally finished placing the last one!
The storm that swept through Nevada County between the 23rd and 25th of October dropped between seven and twelve inches of much needed precipitation. This rainfall has led to, among other things, increased flows in the Yuba River and SYRCL’s ‘first flush’ event.
We sat down with our resident hydrologist, Karl Ronning, to learn more about this ‘first flush’ event and to discuss the results of our water quality monitoring.
In November 2019, Rise Gold submitted a project description to reopen the Idaho-Maryland Mine with the hope of extracting gold on the 119-acre New Brunswick site as well as the 56-acre site on Idaho-Maryland Road.
SYRCL has been researching the project since 2019. Earlier this year, SYRCL’s Board of Directors unanimously voted to oppose the reopening of the Idaho-Maryland Mine.
Shortly after, on July 28, 2021, SYRCL joined ten other local and regional environmental organizations in signing a letter to Mr. Patrick Pulupa, the Executive Officer of the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, to express deep concern over the impacts reopening the mine could have on water quality and flows.
Following the success of this year’s Yuba River Cleanup, in which volunteers hauled out more than six tons of trash and recyclables, we may want to take a moment to consider why cleanup programs are so necessary and why illegal dumping is such a frequent occurrence in the Yuba River watershed and throughout Nevada County.
SYRCL is working to restore aspen in the Yuba River watershed so they can provide habitat for numerous species of insects, birds, and mammals and help improve water quality. You can help us by getting involved next weekend. Learn more about SYRCL’s restoration project and how to sign up below.