SYRCL Is Recruiting For Its 25th River Monitoring Season

We are looking for dedicated, environmentally driven volunteers to help monitor the water quality in the Yuba Watershed.  

SYRCL has recruited volunteers for the past 24 years to monitor what has grown to 37 sites across the Yuba watershed.  

Together, our River Monitors have collected a vast amount of water quality data which has been crucial in our protection and restoration efforts. If you want to learn more about why we monitor, we invite you to read our River Monitoring Plan.  

If you are interested in being one of our community scientist River Monitors, you will need to attend an Orientation AND mandatory Field Training. 

River Monitoring training is free and open to everyone!  

To sign up, contact SYRCL’s River Monitoring Coordinator Fiona Litton at (530)265-5961 x219 or send her an email at fiona@yubariver.org.  

ORIENTATION

ORIENTATION is at the SYRCL Office located at 313 Railroad Ave. in Nevada City at 6 pm on Wednesday March 12, 2025.   

At the orientation, you will learn about the background of SYRCL’s River Monitoring Program, with an emphasis on what we monitor and why it is important.  

FIELD TRAINING 

FIELD TRAINING is at Bridgeport Crossing at the South Yuba River State Park, on Pleasant Valley Road from 9:30 am – 2:00 pm on Saturday, March 22, 2025.  

At the mandatory field training, you will become familiar with SYRCL’s sampling protocol, practice working with the sampling equipment, and learn to fill out the data sheets. This training will be located at the Bridgeport Crossing at the South Yuba River State Park  

If you’re interested in becoming a River Monitor, please email the 2025 River Monitoring Coordinator, Fiona Litton, at fiona@yubariver.org to express interest and receive all the necessary information.   

Top Five Reasons to Become a River Monitor:  

• Be part of a dedicated team of scientists and environmental stewards working to keep the Yuba clean and safe.  
• See the Yuba watershed in all seasons! Monitors visit their adopted site once a month from March-November to collect data and make valuable observations. Observe the Yuba’s beautiful spring flowers, summer sun, fall colors, and winter flows! 
• Learn how water flow and other factors impact water chemistry. Each month we test for pH, Dissolved Oxygen, Conductivity, Temperature, and Turbidity. Learn why all these parameters matter and how they affect habitat quality!  
• Once trained, River Monitors can further develop their skills by volunteering with SYRCL’s other river science projects (like meadow monitoring and storm sampling).  
• Contribute data to support SYRCL’s River Monitoring Plan which focuses on long-term trend monitoring, abandoned mines, dam-affected reaches, the Upper South Yuba River Watershed, bacterial contamination of recreational waters, nutrient and chemical runoff, and invasive/sensitive species lists.  

March 8th is the first monthly water quality monitoring day of 2025 . 

Our trained River Monitors will head out to collect water samples and fill out their data sheets! River Monitors collect vital water quality data while also exploring some of the most beautiful and secluded locations in the Yuba watershed.  

The 2025 River Monitoring Schedule   

2nd Saturday of the month from March-November:  

• March 8th  
• April 12th 
• May 10th 
• June 14th 
• July 12th 
• August 9th 
• September 13th  
• October 11th  
• November 8th  

You can also download our extensive data set collected by our trained citizen scientists at RiverDB.org.  

Thank you to our dedicated community scientists who make it all possible.  

SYRCL volunteers make the River Monitoring Program one of the strongest citizen-based monitoring projects in the nation!  

To sign up, contact SYRCL’s River Monitoring Coordinator Fiona Litton at (530)265-5961 x219 or send her an email at fiona@yubariver.org.