$100M Yuba River ‘fishway’ advances amid powerhouse clean-up, angler concerns
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Yuba Water Agency approved about $1.4M to advance a $100M+ fishway project.
- Project will bypass Daguerre Point Dam to reconnect salmon, trout and other species.
- Anglers warn striped bass (and shad) could move upstream and harm fisheries.
Yuba Water Agency directors moved forward with the construction of a $100 million-plus project on the lower Yuba River intended to forge passage for fish to swim freely around a small dam.
But anglers who revere the 10-mile stretch of protected water upstream of that site still fear the consequences of creating a path for all species, including predators, to reach the fishery that currently only trout and salmon can access.
Water agency directors on Tuesday chose Sacramento firm Teichert Construction to oversee the project, and approved about $1.4 million for the company to finish designs and begin pre-construction, which officials have said may begin by the end of this year.
The water agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife and National Marine Fisheries Service have partnered for years to build a “nature-like fishway” that bypasses Daguerre Point Dam, a sediment dam northeast of Marysville on the lower Yuba River. Fish ladders currently straddle each side of the dam, serving a step system for the salmon and trout to jump over the dam and reach the upstream water that hits a dead-end at the foot of Englebright Dam.
The proposed fishway would effectively carve an extension of the river that loops around the sediment dam, so salmon, rainbow and steelhead trout, sturgeon and lamprey could swim freely to either side. Anglers, however, worry about striped bass, which they have said proliferated throughout the river in recent years, and would have free rein to prey on salmon and trout in the upstream waters from which the dam currently blocks them. American shad is another predator of concern to them.
The project is the center piece of the Yuba River Resilience Initiative, a local, state and federal partnership to restore the Yuba River watershed and safeguard its water supply, with the state department of fish and wildlife committing $30 million.
Cleaning up the power station
The decision and investment comes amid the continued recovery efforts in the North Yuba River and at New Colgate Powerhouse, above which a pipeline rupture in mid-February sent a deluge of water rushing down the foothills and through the power plant, flushing debris and oil into the water system and shutting down the hydroelectric station for, potentially, years.
The water agency operates the powerhouse, whose power sales fluctuate — but in a recent year brought in nearly $200 million of revenue — and has spearheaded the clean-up efforts.
While still assessing the damage and recovery timeline, agency officials have signaled that their financial assistance and grant-giving to outside agencies and projects would slow down. With the nature-like fishway so far along, they said they are committed to seeing it through.
“This project builds on years of collaboration and investment to improve fish passage while maintaining reliable water deliveries for local agriculture,” said Willie Whittlesey, Yuba Water general manager, in a news release. “Delaying it would risk losing critical funding and the momentum we’ve built, and it would have real consequences for both fisheries and the agricultural community in Yuba County.”
Diversion system
The fishway design includes a diversion point to send water to Yuba County irrigators who rely on the surface water collected behind New Bullards Bar Dam, which, when released from the reservoir, flows down to Englebright Lake. From there water is released into the lower Yuba River. The diversion system would include a modernized fish screen that officials said would better protect fish from entering the irrigation channel than the current fish screens in place.
The stretch of the lower river anglers want to protect runs for about 10 miles from the release point below Englebright Dam to the top of Daguerre Point Dam.
More than a thousand young salmon may have died in those waters below the dam when the pipeline rupture occurred, as one of the two pumps that release water from the Englebright Lake into the lower river stopped for several hours, significantly reducing the river’s flow to the detriment of infant salmon.
Wildlife officials have said the fishway will benefit all fish species in the river system, and may even improve the numbers in the trout fishery.
Frank Rinella, a Yuba River angler with the conservation arm of Gold Country Fly Fishers, said that his group and others remain concerned about the threat of striped bass, and have pressed wildlife officials to implement additional measures to the fishway design that would keep predators out of the lower river’s upper reaches.
This story was originally published March 19, 2026 at 1:40 PM.
