Feds budget for fish study
Kyle Magin
The Union
02/16/2011
An environmental group is looking forward to a government study announced this
week for the Yuba River.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced its
proposed 2012 projects budget this week, which includes $100,000 for a fish
passage study of the Englebright and Daguerre Point Dams on the Yuba River.
On some California rivers, fish passages allow salmon and other species
to bypass dams by using ladders, allowing them to swim upstream for breeding
purposes.
Englebright, commissioned in 1941, straddles the borders of
Nevada and Yuba counties.
The dam blocks access to the upper stretches
of the south fork of the Yuba River to Chinook salmon and steelhead trout, said
California Sportfishing Protection Alliance Project Director Chris
Shutes.
“We think there's a great opportunity to study the passage that's
essentially blocked there,” Shutes said.
There are potentially
productive fish habitats upstream from Englebright that could be utilized by
fish if they have access to the waters, he added.
The sportfishing group
agitated for the Yuba County Water Agency to undertake such a study at a meeting
earlier this month, but the agency declined as the dam falls under the purview
of the Corps of Engineers.
