River Monitoring

Creating River Stewards: Monitoring Water Quality on Public Lands

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This spring, SYRCL and Tahoe National Forest (TNF) launched a pilot program to engage middle and high school students in water quality monitoring. Twenty-two 6th through 12th grade students from Downieville Jr./Sr. School participated in the program where they were trained in water quality monitoring practices, collected water quality data at Oregon Creek Day Use Area, analyzed and interpreted the data they collected with SYRCL’s comprehensive River Monitoring Data sets, and learned river etiquette to become River Ambassadors.

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SYRCL’s 2021 Impact Report: People Can Save a River

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Each year, SYRCL releases an Impact Report that details the work we have done over the course of the previous year.

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Join the 2022 River Monitoring Team!

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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!

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Was December’s Storm a Drought Buster?

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December was a month for the record books when it comes to Sierra snowfall, but was it enough to end California’s two-year drought?

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Where Does Our Water Go?

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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!

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‘First Flush’ Water Quality Monitoring Results Are In

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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.

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Growing Green & Water Quality

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Cannabis cultivation has been present in the Yuba watershed for decades and is expected to stay well into the future. Like many common agricultural crops, cannabis cultivation has the potential to affect local water quality and watershed health. In fact, the Yuba River has been designated as a “priority watershed” for cannabis issues due to severe impacts by egregious, illegal grows.

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Pesticide Use in Cannabis Cultivation Threatens California Spotted Owls

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Widespread cannabis cultivation can lead to numerous environmental impacts, including groundwater and surface water depletion, soil erosion, habitat loss and fragmentation, and pesticide pollution. In this article, we focus on a secondary impact of cannabis cultivation—the poisoning of endangered and threatened species.

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SYRCL & BriarPatch Team Up to Provide River-Friendly Sunscreen at the Yuba

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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.

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Algae: The Good & the Bad in the Yuba

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We have fielded a lot of questions in the past few weeks about water temperatures in the South Yuba. Are they higher than normal?

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