Although the Chinook salmon population on the lower Yuba River remains greatly below historical numbers, there’s been some improvement. SYRCL’s Watershed Science Director, Aaron Zettler-Mann, says it was 53-hundred for the spawning season just ending at the end of March, compared to just 38-hundred the previous year. But it used to be two to three-hundred thousand and the U.S Fish and Wildlife would like to see it get to at least 60-thousand. He says recent below-normal precipitation, with fewer cold storms, has been a major factor…

click to listen to Aaron Zettler-Mann

Earlier this year, SYRCL sent a letter, with 700 signatures from 28 different states, urging the Army Corps of Engineers to improve maintenance of the Daguerre Point Dam fish ladders. But Zettler-Mann indicates a bigger focus has been on finding ways to improve river health…

click to listen to Aaron Zettler-Mann

But SYRCL says a lack of regular fish ladder maintenance is also impeding the ability of these threatened fish from being able to pass over the dam and access suitable spawning habitat critical to their survival.