SYRCL's 2026 State of the Yuba -- Looking Back While Looking Ahead • SYRCL

On the evening of Wednesday, April 15, approximately 150 people gathered at the Miners Foundry Cultural Center in Nevada City for SYRCL’s annual State of the Yuba — and this year, the celebration carried special weight. Twenty-five years ago, 39 miles of the South Yuba River earned permanent protection under California’s Wild & Scenic Rivers Act. On April 15, the community that made that possible came together to mark the milestone, hear the latest on the health of the watershed, and recommit to the work ahead.

The Miners Foundry provided a fitting setting for the occasion: spacious, historic, and alive with the energy of a community that cares deeply about this river. The evening opened at 5:30 PM with an open house, giving attendees the chance to connect directly with SYRCL staff, explore volunteer and engagement opportunities, and enjoy food from Petra while the Miners Foundry Bar kept the evening warm. There were even activities for kids, and, in the spirit of the anniversary, the crowd joined in at the end of the evening to sing happy birthday to the Yuba River and share a slice of cake — a moment of joy that captured exactly why this work matters.

Reporting on the Watershed

When the speaking program began at 6:30 PM, SYRCL’s Executive Director, Dr. Aaron Zettler-Mann, delivered a candid, comprehensive report on the work SYRCL has been engaged with, the challenges both the watershed and the organization has faced, and the state of the Yuba River watershed. Attendees heard updates on water quality conditions, the progress of meadow, aspen restoration and salmon habitat projects, forest health partnerships, and the education programs connecting young people to hands-on watershed stewardship.

Among the most significant topics of the evening was the penstock failure at the New Colgate Powerhouse on February 13, 2026 — an infrastructure disaster that released approximately 400 acre-feet of water in a sudden flood, destroyed much of the facility, and sent massive volumes of sediment into the river. SYRCL’s Watershed Science team had responded within 18 hours, collecting water quality samples and documenting impacts to salmon populations. Dr. Zettler-Mann shared what that rapid response revealed, how the watershed is recovering, and what the long-term implications are for river health. The presentation stood as a clear demonstration of what a science-based organization can accomplish when it is already embedded in the landscape it protects.

Honoring the Community

The heart of the evening was the recognition of the individuals and organizations whose dedication makes SYRCL’s work possible. This year’s honorees reflected the breadth and depth of the community that has protected the Yuba River for decades.

Partner of the Year: Blue Forest — accepted by Nicole Miller

Watershed Science Director Alecia Weisman presented the Partner of the Year award to Blue Forest — an innovative conservation organization known for developing a first-of-its-kind restoration financing tool called the Forest Resilience Bond. The Forest Resilience Bond is a conservation finance model that quantifies and leverages ecosystem benefits to attract investors and beneficiaries to restoration projects, unlocking funding for landscape-scale work that traditional sources often cannot reach.

Blue Forest and SYRCL share deep roots in the North Yuba watershed. Blue Forest was a founding member of the North Yuba Forest Partnership alongside the Tahoe National Forest and SYRCL — a nine-organization coalition that collectively plans and implements forest restoration and fire resilience projects across 275,000 acres of the North Yuba Watershed. Blue Forest piloted their first Forest Resilience Bond within that footprint, establishing a model that has since expanded.

This past year, the partnership reached a significant milestone with the launch of the Yuba Aspen Meadows bond — known affectionately as YAM — the first Forest Resilience Bond targeting meadow and aspen habitats in the North Yuba. The bond supports SYRCL in restoring 670 acres of meadow and aspen habitat, streamlining cash flow and increasing efficiency on active restoration projects that SYRCL has been cultivating for years. Together, SYRCL and Blue Forest are accelerating restoration across a vast landscape, building a mosaic of forest and meadow ecosystems that sustains biodiversity, reduces wildfire risk, and strengthens the long-term resilience of the Yuba River watershed.

Sponsor of the Year: CA Organics — accepted by Michael Funk

Development Director Julie Pokrandt opened the Sponsor of the Year presentation with a detail that set the tone for everything that followed: the first donation on record from this year’s honoree was a case of soda, valued at $20, donated on April 10, 1998. Twenty-eight years ago. That single line told the story of California Organics before another word was spoken.

A local neighborhood market known for its healthy choices, all-organic deli, and deep roots in the community, California Organics has been a steadfast SYRCL partner across nearly three decades — donating food for events, gift certificates for auctions, and prizes for River Cleanup volunteers, year after year without fail. Over the past three to four years, that commitment deepened further. California Organics began selling SYRCL and Wild & Scenic Film Festival merchandise in-store, partnered on social media to amplify river-friendly products and share river safety messaging throughout the summer, and stepped up as a major Wild & Scenic Film Festival sponsor for three consecutive years — arriving at a critical moment when the festival was rebuilding after the pandemic.

That deepened engagement reflects the involvement of Michael and Alicia Funk. Though Alicia was unable to attend, she shared a message that Pokrandt read aloud: “I don’t think many people know how committed Michael’s been to SYRCL — from significant donations and board involvement, to Wild & Scenic status, to the film festival’s early days, to the salmon initiatives over many decades. We are still lifelong supporters.” Lifelong supporters. After 28 years, California Organics and the Funk family have earned that title many times over.

Volunteer of the Year: Marlene Sharon

Community Engagement Manager Emily Wilson presented the Volunteer of the Year award to Marlene Sharon. Over the past six years, Marlene has shown up for nearly every volunteer event SYRCL has hosted, lending her energy to river cleanups, SYRCL’s Wild & Scenic Film Festival, restoration projects, outreach, and office support alike. Her commitment extends across the broader community as well: Marlene volunteers with six local organizations and serves on the boards of three. As Wilson put it, there is hardly a person, plant, or animal in Nevada County that has not benefitted from her contribution. SYRCL is grateful for her warmth, her enthusiasm, and the quiet, steady optimism she brings to every effort she joins.

Guardian of the Yuba: Michael Anderson — presented by Dr. Aaron Zettler-Mann, accepted by Lori Gordon

SYRCL’s Executive Director, Dr. Aaron Zettler-Mann, presented the Guardian of the Yuba — a special award given as warranted, reserved for those whose long-term dedication has shaped the organization and the river in ways that cannot be measured by a single season of service. This year, the award was presented posthumously to Michael Anderson, with his wife Lori Gordon accepting on his behalf.

Michael’s connection to the Yuba River spanned decades. He was a cornerstone of SYRCL’s River Monitoring program — a community science effort that depends on the kind of consistent, careful, long-term presence that Michael embodied completely. He established many of the original monitoring sites still in use today, never missed a commitment to the program, and worked to build up both the sites and the volunteers around him. Long-time River Monitoring partner Mike Friebel captured his character simply and precisely: “He was incredibly reliable, diligent, and so easy to work with… He held very strong concern for our environment and his involvement with SYRCL preceded mine by many years, I believe beginning in about 2000.”

Michael’s contribution extended beyond the riverbank as well. Through his company Clientworks, he supported SYRCL’s organizational growth for many years, helping the team navigate an ever-changing technological landscape as the organization expanded its staff and its reach. SYRCL is what it is in part because Michael Anderson gave so much of himself to it — and to the river he loved.

Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship Award: Viviana Velazquez

Education Director Monique Streit presented the evening’s final award, SYRCL’s $4,000 Environmentalist of the Year Scholarship, given annually to a distinguished high school senior who has demonstrated a commitment to the environment through community leadership and environmental volunteerism. This year’s recipient, Viviana Velazquez, is a graduating senior from Bear River High School with a 4.02 GPA, a California State Seal of Civic Engagement, and a presidential scholarship to CSU, Chico, where she plans to pursue a degree in Agricultural Education with an emphasis in sustainable agriculture, bilingual education, and agricultural communications. A leader in the Bear River chapter of Future Farmers of America (FFA), Editor-in-Chief of her school’s Student Literary Magazine, and Vice President of Key Club, Viviana also volunteered at SYRCL’s annual Yuba River Cleanup. Her passion for the land traces back to her great-grandfather, who taught her from a young age how to care for it. In her application, she wrote: “Agriculture is more than work. It is a legacy, a family connection, and a way to care for our community and environment.” Viviana plans to become a bilingual agriculture teacher — because, as she put it, language should never prevent anyone from learning and caring for the land. As a young person of color in rural Nevada County, she has experienced firsthand the barriers that can make people feel unwelcome in environmental spaces, and she is committed to changing that. “Nature does not discriminate,” she wrote, “and protecting it must go hand in hand with ensuring everyone has access to natural spaces where they can learn, reflect, and find solace.” SYRCL is proud to invest in a young leader who is already building the equitable, sustainable future she envisions.

Looking Ahead

The 2026 State of the Yuba closed with the same spirit that has defined this community since the early days of the fight to protect the South Yuba River: people who refuse to stay on the sidelines. From stopping dams in 2001 to monitoring a flood-damaged river in 2026, the constant has been community commitment to this watershed.

Whether attendees arrived as longtime SYRCL members, first-time volunteers, or simply curious neighbors, the evening offered a clear invitation: there is a place for you in this work. Restoration projects, river cleanups, community science monitoring, education programs, and policy campaigns are all pathways into stewardship of a river that belongs to everyone.

The South Yuba River is 25 years wild and scenic. The community that earned that designation — and the one that will carry it forward — was in that room on April 15.

Videos filmed and edited by Michael West