HomeMy WebLinkAboutProposed Expansion of Spring Run Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Halibut - Lower Yuba River_part 1doh` of w Pwn
O \y
��11 ♦l\r�PA
Department of Water Resources
Division of Environmental Services
3500 Industrial Boulevard
West Sacramento, CA 95691
Mailing address:
PO Box 942836
Sacramento, CA 94236-0001
November 20, 2009
To: Distribution List
Pacific Gas and
EJectnic Company®
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
Power Generation
245 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Mailing address:
PO Box 770000
San Francisco, CA 94177
BOARD OFgUpERW',ORS
DEC 67�
OROVtf t,E, CALjFORNE4
RE: Proposed Expansion of Spring -Run Chinook Salmon and Steelhead Habitat
in the Lower Yuba River
The purpose of this letter is to seek your comments on potential habitat expansion
actions in the Lower Yuba River watershed. The actions would be part of an ongoing
effort to expand habitat for endangered spring -run Chinook salmon and steelhead in the
Sacramento River basin by the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and other
regulatory agencies. The actions would be undertaken by the California Department of
Water Resources (DWR) and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) if all of the
necessary approvals, consultations, and permits are obtained. The potential actions are
described in a draft Habitat Expansion Plan issued by DWR and PG&E dated
November 20, 2009.
The habitat expansion actions being considered involve three components:
1. rehabilitating spawning habitat in the lower Yuba River just downstream of
Englebright Dam and augmenting gravel in Deer Creek (a tributary to the Yuba
River);
2. possibly constructing a fall- and spring -run Chinook salmon segregation weir
sometime in the future at a location in the 6 -mile reach between Englebright Dam
and the Highway 20 Bridge; and
3. restoring juvenile rearing habitat between the Highway 20 Bridge and the
downstream extent of the Yuba Goldfields.
These are only potential actions at this time, and will go through a rigorous comment,
revision and approval process. The earliest that approval would occur (by NMFS) is in
May 2010.