Partners advance a fishway around the Daguerre Point Dam on the Yuba River for salmon and sturgeon passage.
The operation of Daguerre Point Dam, which was constructed to contain debris resulting from Gold Rush-era mining and currently supports irrigation diversions from the Yuba River, jeopardizes threatened and endangered species, including spring-run Chinook salmon, steelhead, and Southern Resident killer whales, NOAA Fisheries has found.
The century-old dam includes two poorly functioning fish ladders that can block a large percentage of salmon and all sturgeon from high-quality habitat upstream. NOAA Fisheries’ determination came in a biological opinion following consultation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under the Endangered Species Act. The finding follows years of scrutiny and litigation fueled by concerns about the impacts of the dam that was constructed to contain gravel and debris from historical gold mining.
NOAA Fisheries called for the Corps of Engineers, which owns and operates the dam, to take steps to make the most of the existing fish ladders for salmon passage, as long as the dam is in place. Reliable passage would benefit declining populations of steelhead and boost spring-run Chinook salmon. Once the most abundant California salmon and a foundation of commercial fisheries, spring-run Chinook salmon are now limited to a handful of populations at high risk of extinction.
“The Yuba River has great potential as a lifeline for these species and we want to make the most of it,” said Ellen Roots, Branch Chief in NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “It is important to do what we can now to help them hold on until further improvements may come to fruition.”
New Agreement Seeks New Fishway
Daguerre Point Dam is also the focus of an ambitious agreement that began last year between NOAA Fisheries, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Yuba Water Agency that would construct a circular “fishway” around the dam, resembling a natural river. That would provide access to twelve additional miles of habitat for salmon – and for threatened green sturgeon that cannot climb fish ladders like salmon can.
Under the agreement, the agencies would also work together to return salmon to the upper Yuba watershed, where cold water can help them survive climate change. While salmon can, at times, pass through the existing fish ladders at Daguerre Point, the Corps of Engineers’ Englebright Dam further blocks their passage into the valuable headwaters of the upper Yuba watershed.
The agreement announced last year by California Governor Gavin Newsom and leaders of NOAA Fisheries and Yuba Water Agency is part of a state strategy to improve the resilience of California salmon to climate change that will make many lower-lying rivers too warm for them. The agreement also helps fulfill NOAA Fisheries’ recovery plans for salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon.
Daguerre Point Dam’s impacts on fish also imperil endangered Southern Resident killer whales that depend in part on California salmon and steelhead for prey. The endangered population of killer whales most identified with the Pacific Northwest are known to have long visited the mouths of West Coast rivers, including the Klamath and the Sacramento in California in search of their preferred salmon prey. NOAA Fisheries recognized much of the Northern California coast as critical habitat for the killer whales, because of that established relationship.
“While Daguerre Point Dam has impacted species for decades now, we are fortunate that others including the state and Yuba Water Agency are stepping in voluntarily to improve the picture for fish,” said Cathy Marcinkevage, Assistant Regional Administrator in NOAA Fisheries’ Central Valley Office. “By working together, we can accelerate recovery and provide threatened fish the resilience they need to survive and adjust as the climate changes.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION
- Salmon in the Sacramento River Basin
- Yuba River Habitat Restoration Agreement
- California Salmon Strategy
- Sacramento River Spring-run Chinook Salmon
