[Insert date]
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District
Attn: Michael Fong, CESPK-PD-RPvia email
1325 J Street
Sacramento, CA 95814-2922
Re:Scope of theYuba River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study
Dear Mr. Fong:
[Insert your personal statement and connection to the Yuba River]
I would like to commend the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Yuba County Water Agency (YCWA) for providing this opportunity to submit comments about the scope for the “Yuba River Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study” now underway. I appreciate that Congress has approved funding, and YCWA has agreed to be the local cost-share partner, for this long-awaited feasibility study as I expect it to lead to the implementation of fish passage improvement projects and habitat restoration projects on the Yuba River. I am submitting comments regarding what should be included in the study and the resulting Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) andEnvironmental Impact Statement (EIS) documents as compliant with NEPA and CEQA.
This feasibility studyis the necessary step in developing contemporary and credible information regarding alternatives to improve passage at Daguerre, which has fish ladders, and to further evaluate passage options at Englebright, which does not have fish ladders. Completion of the study will provide options to benefit Chinook salmon, steelhead and green sturgeon, all listed as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
The feasibility study should advance the development of salmon and steelhead recovery and ecosystem restoration actions on the Yuba River that are scientifically sound and respond to strong public interest inrestoration of habitat for these threatened fish species. Many of us recognize that recovery of abundant and diverse populations of salmon and steelhead are necessary to restore a healthy Yuba River ecosystem.
The study should primarily focus on the problems and opportunities associated with structures for which the Army Corps is directly responsible: Englebright Dam and Daguerre Point Dam.We need multi-benefit solutions at both dams to increase fish populationsand enhance public safety and recreation.
Recognizing that the Army Corps includes some of the most talented and experienced engineers in the world, the feasibility study should include a thorough description of how salmon and steelhead could pass to and from the upper Yuba River watershed through volitional means (not by truck).We encourage the Corps project team to draw on ingenuity and new ideasas well as existing information. It is not acceptable to dismiss all volitional fish passage concepts because of mercury, flooding risk, cost or even biological issues; rather, these should be seen as challenges to solve.
This feasibility study is the place to find long-term sustainable solutions in the Yuba River watershed. It should develop alternatives for habitat restoration on the lower Yuba River that include expanding floodplain area past the existing constraints of dredger tailings piles (training walls) and levees.
Alternatives for expanding floodplain habitat should include options for lowering or removing these training walls and possibly relocation of levees.In addition, the study should include other actions to improve riparian and side-channel habitat.
Thank you for providing this opportunity to comment, and please add me to your project mailing list and share this letter with Yuba County Water Agency.
Sincerely,
[Add your Full Name and Mailing Address]