CSPA and fellow members of the Foothills Water Network coalition have pressed the Forest Service to protect cold water fisheries in the Middle and South Yuba rivers. In a filing with the Forest Service for the Yuba-Bear hydroelectric project and a separate filing for the connected Drum-Spaulding Project, the Network proposed alternative conditions to those required by the Forest Service. The flows required by the Forest Service for the Middle and South Yuba rivers would not keep the rivers cold enough in the summer.
The Forest Service filed its preliminary conditions on July 31, 2012. On August 24, the Forest Service revised its conditions, weakening its requirements for the South Yuba River. The Forest Service further backed away from cold water protection after separate meetings with Drum-Spaulding licensee PG&E, to which Network NGO’s were not invited.
The Network’s alternative conditions submitted to the Forest Service are identical to conditions previously proposed by both the Network and the California Department of Fish and Game in filings at the end of July.