A bill to add 39 miles of the South Yuba River in the Sierra Nevada to the California Wild & Scenic Rivers System has been introduced in the State Legislature.

By formally designating the South Yuba a state ³Wild & Scenic River², SB 496 ensures that this scenic and popular recreation river is protected from the threat of new dams. The California Wild & Scenic Rivers System is intended to balance the existing policy of developing rivers for their water and power resources, by protecting other free flowing rivers and their extraordinary natural values.

The segment of South Yuba River proposed for protection is located entirely in Nevada County. A proposal to build the 600 foot high Edwards Crossing dam on the river by the downstream Yuba County Water Agency prompted the Nevada County Board of Supervisors to ask legislators to introduce the bill. Protecting the river enjoys wide support in Nevada County, including the support of river-side landowners threatened by condemnation of their property if Yuba County pursues dam construction.

The legislators representing Nevada County -- State Senator Tim Leslie (R-Tahoe City) and Assemblymember Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) -- declined to author the bill, soo the county asked other legislative leaders to carry the legislation. SB 496 was introduced by Senator Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto), with an unusual number of early co-authors, including Senator Patrick Johnston (D-Stockton), Senator Deirdre Alpert (D-Coronado), Assemblymember Howard Wayne (D-San Diego), and Assemblymember Sheila Kuehl (D-Santa Monica). Conservation sponsors of the bill include the Nevada County-based South Yuba River Citizens League, the statewide Friends of the River, and the Sierra Club.

The Yuba County Water Agency and other water development interests are expected to oppose the bill, despite the fact that several government agencies and programs have rejected the idea of building a water supply or flood control dam on the South Yuba River, including the CALFED Bay Delta Program, the California State Water Plan, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Yuba County is interested in building a dam on the South Yuba allegedly for flood control purposes, but there are more economically feasible and less environmentally destructive flood control alternatives in the Yuba watershed than building a new dam on the South Yuba.

The state system is similar to the National Wild & Scenic Rivers System in that new dams are prohibited on designated rivers. However, state agencies and local governments retain existing authority to manage public resources and land use on state designated rivers. Although state rivers can be added to the federal system with the approval of the stateıs Governor and the Secretary of Interior, these dual-designated rivers remain under state and local control.

If approved by the legislature and signed by the Governor, SB 496 would be the first expansion of the California Wild & Scenic Rivers System in more than a decade. Protected in the system are various segments, forks, and tributaries of the Smith, Klamath, Scott, Salmon, Trinity, Eel, Van Duzen, American, East Carson, and West Walker rivers. The state system was first established in 1972.

What You Can Do:

If you are a constituent of Senator Tim Leslie (residents of Nevada, Butte, Yuba, Placer, El Dorado, Sierra, Amador, Alpine, Calaveras, Plumas, Lassen, and Modoc counties) and/or of Assemblymember Sam Aanestad (residents of Nevada, Yuba, Butte, Sierra, Plumas, Lassen, and Modoc counties), your phone call and letter is essential to convincing these legislators to support or at least not oppose SB 496.

If your state Senator or Assemblymember authored SB 496, please take this opportunity to thank them for sponsoring the bill to protect the South Yuba River.

All other California residents should write to their State Senator and Assemblymember and urge them to support SB 496.

All letters should be addressed to State Capitol, CA 95814. State Senator Leslieıs phone number is (916) 445-5788. Assemblymember Aanstadıs phone number is (916) 319-2003.

If you donıt know the name of your State Senator and Assemblymember, call the Assembly Clerkıs office at (916) 319-2856 or call the Senate Clerkıs office at (916) 445-4251. You can also find your state legislator on the web at www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html. If you require more information concerning this issue, contact Steve Evans at Friends of the River, (916) 442-3155, ext. 221.