<\/p>\n
Dead Chinook salmon on Saturday likely caused by the sudden drop in flows in the lower Yuba River following the penstock rupture at the New Colgate Powerhouse.<\/p>\n
South Yuba River Citizens League<\/p>\n
Hundreds, and possibly thousands, of juvenile Chinook salmon were found dead in the lower Yuba River after a large water pipe burst<\/a> at the New Colgate Powerhouse on Friday, according to a local conservation group.<\/p>\n Aaron Zettler-Mann, executive director of South Yuba River Citizens League, explained that flows on the lower Yuba River briefly fell following the rupture, stranding young salmon in the rocks along the shore.<\/p>\n \u201cYou work so hard and you spend so much time and energy and resources trying to bring these species back, and then there\u2019s a terrible accident. It\u2019s hard not to feel like a little bit of that hard work is undone,\u201d Zettler-Mann said.<\/p>\n DeDe Cordell, a spokesperson for Yuba Water Agency, told The Sacramento Bee the agency is aware of reports of dead salmon in the lower Yuba and are working with California Department of Fish and Wildlife and South Yuba River Citizens League \u201cto assess the impact of the incident on conditions in the lower Yuba River, including fish mortality.\u201d<\/p>\n A sudden failure at the powerhouse<\/p>\n On Friday just before 3 p.m., a large steel penstock that carries water to the New Colgate Powerhouse ruptured on a slope above the North Yuba River, sending a torrent of water, mud and debris crashing over the hydroelectric facility and injuring one worker.<\/p>\n Cordell from Yuba Water Agency said initial field checks near the incident showed high turbidity, or cloudy water, and that other water quality samples have been sent to a lab for analysis. Eric Laughlin, a spokesperson for the Office of Spill Prevention and Response at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the agency also collected samples of the oil sheen, which are still being analyzed.<\/p>\n But what killed the young salmon wasn\u2019t pollution from debris, Zettler-Mann said.<\/p>\n The Colgate facility sits on the North Yuba River upstream of Englebright Dam, which regulates flows to the lower Yuba. When the penstock rupture forced the powerhouse offline, it triggered a sudden drop in releases from Englebright that cut flows in the lower Yuba River roughly in half for about two hours, Zettler-Mann said, leaving young salmon stranded as the water receded.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be clear, none of the debris or materials mobilized by the incident have gotten below Englebright Dam at this point, so any impacts to the lower Yuba River would not have been caused by the debris or other materials in the water,\u201d Cordell said.<\/p>\n Wet years likely buffered long-term impact<\/p>\n Carson Jeffres, a senior researcher at UC Davis\u2019 Center for Watershed Sciences, said Friday\u2019s rapid drop in flows and resulting salmon deaths are unlikely to wipe out the Yuba\u2019s runs, thanks to several recent wet years and a strong return of adult salmon.<\/p>\n California is in a rare stretch of roughly four wet years in a row, and those wetter years have helped salmon rebound from the very low numbers that led to a fishery closure four years ago, Jeffres said, while stressing that it is still a negative situation.<\/p>\n \u201cA rapid reduction in flows can have adverse effects for fish that are unable to move, particularly young salmon that are poor swimmers at that point, and they might get stranded in the margins of the river,\u201d Jeffres said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we rely on manmade structures for managing our ecosystems we have to be eyes wide open that failure of these structures can have ecosystem consequences.\u201d he added.<\/p>\n This story was originally published February 17, 2026 at 4:59 PM.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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