Latest News & Updates

Upper Long Bar Restoration Pre-Project Monitoring has wrapped up

Upper Long Bar Restoration Pre-Project Monitoring has wrapped up

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In late 2021, SYRCL was awarded a grant from the Wildlife Conservation Board to begin planning, permitting, and collecting base-line data for a salmonid rearing habitat restoration project at Upper Long Bar on the lower Yuba River. The team for this project is made up of Cramer Fish Sciences, cbec eco engineering, Silica Resources Inc., Yuba Water Agency, and it is being led by SYRCL. These are the same partners who worked together to implement the Lower Long Bar project and Rose Bar projects.  

The Upper Long Bar Habitat Restoration Project’s goal is to improve the productivity, complexity, and diversity of anadromous salmonid rearing habitat within the Upper Long Bar area. These actions prioritize increased quantity and quality of juvenile Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) and steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) rearing and over-summer habitat.  

Pre-project monitoring was conducted from January 2022 through December 2023 giving us two full field seasons of data.

PG&E Powerhouse Failure on the Yuba — CPUC to Decide on PG&E’s Proposal to Transfer Hydroelectric Projects
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PG&E Powerhouse Failure on the Yuba — CPUC to Decide on PG&E’s Proposal to Transfer Hydroelectric Projects

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On March 6th and 7th , a significant leak was found at the PG&E Spaulding Powerhouse. About two weeks later, the community learned that there was significant additional damage — columns in the powerhouse had crumbled.  Pipes that divert water to the South Yuba and Bear River were also damaged in an earlier storm, leading to a significant cut-off to water flow.  These events have raised concerns about the reliability of this aging infrastructure and highlighted the urgent need to address these vulnerabilities. 
In the wake of the damage to the Drum Spaulding Powerhouse and the ALJ recommendation, the CPUC is poised to make a final ruling regarding PG&E’s asset transfer.  As the CPUC deliberates, the public has a chance to weigh in. With a deadline for a final CPUC decision set for September 2024, there are four opportunities for a Commission vote to accept and finalize the ALJ decision at regularly scheduled voting meetings, the next being on April 18th.  

Wild for Wildflowers: Exploring the Spring Wonders of the Sierra Foothills
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Wild for Wildflowers: Exploring the Spring Wonders of the Sierra Foothills

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Now that spring has begun we’ve been finding some of our favorite common wildflowers popping up alongside trails and in meadows. They are also starting to blanket hillsides in beautiful shades of orange, yellow, and purple. This is why we want to share proper picture-taking etiquette and introduce some of our favorite common wildflowers that are sometimes overlooked.

Vault Toilet at the Golden Quartz Picnic Site

Vault Toilet at the Golden Quartz Picnic Site

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Thanks to funding secured from Nevada Country through their Outdoor Safety Fund grant program, SYRCL and the Forest Service were able to install a new, state-of-the-art, accessible vault toilet at the Golden Quartz Picnic Site, replacing the old one. 

SYRCL was more than happy to coordinate the process, as keeping a vault toilet from leaking into the Yuba River fully aligns with our mission.