CSPA

ENDANGERED FISH KILL BELOW ENGLEBRIGHT

SYRCL PRESS RELEASE

South Yuba River Citizens League

240 Commercial Street; Suite E

Nevada City, CA 95959

530.265.5961

syrcl@syrcl.org For Information, Contact: Shawn Garvey

For Immediate Release

YUBA RIVER MONITORS REPORT ENDANGERED FISH KILL BELOW ENGLEBRIGHT

For the second time in two weeks, river monitors on the Yuba River have

identified a failure in the operation of a dam that is detrimental to

the Yuba's endangered stocks of salmon and steelhead.

On April 9, 1998 three local residents were hiking and fishing below

Englebright Dam. The Yuba river ­ running at approximately 5,000 cfs,

suddenly fell to less than 750 cfs ­ leaving hundreds and perhaps

thousands of small and endangered salmon and steelhead dead on exposed

beaches and rocks.

Ed Stember, who was on the river at the time, was crossing Timbuctoo

Bend when the river suddenly fell. "There were noticeably dead fish all

along the riverbank," said Stember. "It was alarming."

Mike Fisher, owner of Nevada City Anglers, was monitoring the river

through an Internet site that tracks river flows. "There was a

noticeable spike in the flow of the river. Water levels fell by 80

percent over a 15 minute period."

Shawn Garvey of the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), which

monitors operations on the river, said that the Yuba County Water Agency

(YCWA) regulates the flow through their hydro project on Englebright

Dam. "Decreases of this size not only kill endangered fish, they are

simply and blatantly illegal," he said. Garvey noted that the operation

of the dam in this way violated YCWA's dam license, the Endangered

Species Act and Fish and Game codes.

"The irony is that YCWA wants a 500 foot dam, and they can't even

legally operate a small dam like Englebright," he continued. "If we

can't find a solution on these issues, perhaps someone else should take

control of these facilities."

The lower Yuba River is noted for its populations of wild steelhead and

salmon, which have both recently been proposed for listing under the

Endangered Species Act.

The lower Yuba River earned statewide attention two weeks ago when

SYRCL volunteers found fish ladders closed on Daguerre Point Dam,

closing off access to the upper river to endangered spring run salmon.

Because of this discovery, the National Marine Fisheries Service ordered

a statewide review of dam operations on rivers containing endangered

salmon populations.

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