NOAA has announced the Yuba River Resilience Initiative agreement, a joint project with the state of California and the local Yuba Water Agency that fulfills the Presidential Memorandum calling for Putting People Over Fish. The agreement unlocks new, reliable irrigation water sources to strengthen the agricultural economy of California’s Central Valley, while allowing fish to reach new habitat that will benefit local salmon populations as well as sport and commercial fisheries.
“The President is delivering on his commitment to ensuring that the people of California can access the water they critically need,” said Erik Noble, principal deputy assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. “This initiative guarantees California farmers the water they need to irrigate valuable crops, requires no additional federal funding and advances NOAA’s interest in salmon recovery and habitat preservation.”
The State of California, Yuba Water Agency and NOAA developed the Yuba River Resilience Initiative offsite link to support critical water supply and infrastructure improvements while benefiting native fish. The initiative will preserve existing flow agreements and includes installation of a modernized water diversion that will provide a reliable water supply for more than 40,000 acres of rice, walnuts, prunes and other crops. In addition, Yuba Water and the state have committed to funding a nature-like fishway that will allow salmon and other native fish to swim around Daguerre Point Dam and spawn in higher-quality habitat.
These advances demonstrate U.S. leadership in putting water to work for American prosperity. The agreement will improve the resilience of Yuba County’s $417 million agricultural sector and fish populations without committing more water for fish.
This agreement will provide 184,228 acre feet of irrigation water across 43,104 acres including rice (about 16,000 acres), walnuts (about 4,000 acres) and prunes (about 3,000 acres), resulting in a value of $417 million across Yuba County.
