GOVERNOR APPROVES WILD AND SCENIC PROTECTION FOR SOUTH YUBA RIVER
by John Regan
October 10, 1999 530 265-5255
Rural Community Declares Victory in 16-Year Fight To Protect River
Governor Gray Davis today signed legislation adding a 39-mile stretch of
the South Yuba River to California's Wild and Scenic River System, ending a 16-year grassroots campaign led by the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) and riverside communities to stop new dams on the river. Senate Bill 496, authored by State Senator Byron Sher (D-Palo Alto) and sponsored by Nevada County, prohibits the construction of new dams, reservoirs and diversions on the South Yuba. It is the first addition to the System in a decade and the first river ever designated by a Democratic governor.
"Thank you, Governor Davis. Like the redwoods, the coastline and the Sierra Nevada itself, the South Yuba is a natural treasure for all Californians. This is a tremendous victory not only for the community that fought to protect this river, but also for the whole state of California. The success of SB 496 signals a new direction in managing our rivers and watersheds. It proves that sensible solutions to environmental protection, water supply and flood protection can be found," said SYRCL President Roger Hicks, MD.
The bill's passage halts plans by the downstream
Yuba County Water Agency to build two new dams on the South Yuba. One of the dams would
Washington and stood 700 feet tall - only 25 feet shorter than the Hoover Dam. A second
dam would have inundated the South Yuba State Park at Bridgeport, California's premier
river-based state park and site of the world's longest single-span wooden bridge.SB 496 was endorsed by most major state and national environmental groups, more than 200 businesses and more than two-thirds of the property owners along the river. The South Yuba generates tens of millions of dollars annually from tourism and recreation and is regarded by many residents as the region's most treasured natural feature.
Opponents' arguments that designation might prohibit necessary dams were
belied by an April, 1998 study by the Army Corps of Engineers and the
California Reclamation Board rejecting new dams and recommending improvements to existing levees. CALFED and the State Water Plan envision no new water supply facilities for the South Yuba.
"Every expert has said we don't need to dam the South Yuba for
flood control or water supply. Until now, focusing on these controversial and infeasible
dams has only served to distract everyone from cooperating on a realistic flood control
solution," said John Regan, Wild and Scenic Campaign Director for SYRCL. In his signature message, the Governor underscored his support for a top priority of SYRCL's Wild and Scenic campaign: flood control for the Yuba and Feather River systems. The federal 1999 Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) contains $17 million to bring downstream levees up to a 300-year level of flood protection.
In addition, the state water bond -signed October 7 by the governor - contains $90 million in flood control pojects for the Yuba and Feather Rivers. SYRCL and Nevada County lobied for both measures. "We realized early on that as long as there is a flood threat downstream there will be a dam threat on the South Yuba," said
SYRCL's Hicks."We wanted a win-win solution and I think we got one. Wild and Scenic will protect the river and the economy of communities upstream, and the flood control projects will help protect lives and property downstream." said Regan.
