The Lower Yuba Restoration project, which started in 2019, has been completed. This project has both supported the local salmon population and prevented flooding to protect those who live near the river.
"MARYSVILLE — A habitat restoration project in the lower Yuba River is complete. The project not only helps the local fish population but also those who live along the river's banks."
"The Hallwood Fish Habitat Project" restored the natural flow of the Yuba River after decades of collecting debris from hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush."
"These training walls within the Yuba Goldfields are where hundreds of millions of cubic yards of hydraulic mining sediment were deposited in the lower Yuba River through the early 1900s."
"The Hallwood Fish Habitat Project" restored the natural flow of the Yuba River after decades of collecting debris from hydraulic mining during the Gold Rush."
"Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of the South Yuba River Citizens League, said he's proud of the project and the flood plain it's created."
"Prior to this project, really, the Yuba River was characterized by training walls, so massive piles roughly 80 feet tall of just aggregate," Zettler-Mann said."
"These training walls within the Yuba Goldfields are where hundreds of millions of cubic yards of hydraulic mining sediment were deposited in the lower Yuba River through the early 1900s."
"All of the sands and gravel you see, these aren't natural reoccurring sands and gravels in the Lower Yuba River. They are the result of washing the hillsides away and extracting the gold, and then that sediment debris from 150 years has been making its way down to the Lower Yuba River," Whittlesey said.
"The nearly $12 million project broke ground in August 2019 and took four years of construction. It enhanced and restored 157 acres of floodplain habitat, including nearly two miles of restored side channels and alcoves and close to six miles of seasonally flooded side channels. This created areas where fish could hide, rest, eat and grow."
