Salmon Run Threatened by Gold Mining, Critics Say
Water diversions for gold-mining operations are threatening one of the state’s last runs of wild chinook salmon, environmentalists say.
As a result of the diversions, the salmon are stranded in dredge ponds and channels in the Gold Fields, a 10-square-mile area along the banks of the Yuba River that dates to the 19th Century.
“The fish are stacked up in the Yuba Gold Fields like cordwood,” said Larry Landis of Valley Keeper, a Yuba City environmental group.
Water released by the Yuba County Water Agency from upstream dams is diverted into the Gold Fields to float the giant dredges used to mine gold. The water is then released into the river at the southern end of the fields.
Although the trapped salmon may spawn, the eggs and young fish are killed by warm water temperatures or eaten by squawfish and black bass.
“The California Department of Fish and Game maintains a screen that’s supposed to keep the fish out (of the Gold Fields), but it’s broken,” Landis said. “And it never worked that well.”
The water agency, however, denies it is to blame for the salmon’s decline.
“We feel the screen at the end of the fields is adequate protection for the young fish,” said Nancy Jones, assistant administrator for the agency.
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