The Yuba River Watershed Is Facing The Perfect Storm
Federal protections are being dismantled at a breathtaking pace—from slashing the EPA’s budget to gutting the Endangered Species Act. These changes aren’t just headlines. They’re hitting home, right here in the Yuba.
At SYRCL, we’ve already felt the impact:
- Our AmeriCorps program eliminated
- Wildfire education grants canceled
And now, the White House is fast-tracking energy development projects with practically no environmental impact assessments. This means ill-conceived projects—such as a new hydropower dam—could be pushed through with practically zero public input and zero understanding of the environmental risks to communities or natural resources.
As we know from SYRCL’s history, the Yuba & Bear watersheds are favored targets for hydropower projects. Our community just helped sunset the Centennial Dam project, which took years of public participation and outreach. The tightrope we are walking in these uncertain times is becoming more and more precarious.
We need your help, urgently. Your donation today will help SYRCL fill the growing gaps left by federal rollbacks and keep our programs strong and responsive.
- Advocate to ensure existing hydropower projects and infrastructure include environmental considerations.
- Keep our River Monitoring program active and alert to pollution threats such as “forever chemicals” and microplastics.
- Defend Chinook salmon habitat from policy rollbacks that could erase decades of restoration work.
- Educate youth about the importance of protecting our watershed.
We’re not backing down. SYRCL is focused on tracking policy changes, mobilizing our community, working on restoration projects to mitigate the damage caused by climate change, and standing up for the Yuba every step of the way. But we can’t do it without you.
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