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Nor-Cal Guides & Sportsmen's Association

Photo Caption: An amphibious excavator is positioned near the confluence of the Yuba River and Feather River ahead of a dredging project being overseen by the Sutter Butte Flood Control Agency in 2021. Courtesy photo.

RE: SUPPORT FOR THE SUTTER BUTTE FLOOD CONTROL AGENCY (SBFCA) YUBA CITY BOAT RAMP SEDIMENT REMOVAL PROJECT

Dear Mr. Bessette:

The Northern California Guides and Sportsmen’s Association (NCGASA) wishes to inform you of our support for the Yuba City Boat Ramp Sediment Removal Project. Sediment buildup in portions of the Feather River, exacerbated by the Oroville Dam Spillway incident of 2017, has created dangerous conditions for recreational users, made some boat launch facilities nearly unusable, and has hampered public safety as it has affected emergency vessel launching capabilities. We have reviewed the proposed project and agree that implementation of this project would provide significant enhancements to restoring river access and fish passage conditions at the confluence of the Yuba and Feather Rivers.

NCGASA is an association of over 600 licensed guides and over 4,000 sportsmen and women that work together to protect and increase hunting and fishing opportunities throughout California. NCGASA acts as a voice to represent all people who use California’s waterways and lands. We work closely with many other conservation organizations to make sure we leave a legacy to our children and grandchildren; the same access to outdoor recreation and appreciation for abundant wildlife and fisheries that was instilled in so many of us. More specifically for this letter, we represent the sportsmen’s voice of the guiding community the relies on California’s recreational fisheries to support and feed our families.

As you know, we led the charge in 2018 to secure $5M in state general fund funding to begin the necessary work of sediment management in the Feather River. This situation, which has existed for decades, has been exacerbated by the 2017 Oroville spillway incident, which deposited millions of cubic feet of sediment from the face of the spillway and bank erosion on the bottom of the Feather River. The challenges extend to fish passage, water temperature, river access at low flows, and more.

Your partnership in pursing this work has been greatly appreciated. It would not have been possible to get this far without. However, we have only scratched the surface of the work that

needs to be done, and the primary obstacle to those accomplishments is the lack of available funding.

NCGASA supports jointly produced and implemented multi-benefit projects such as this one because they provide greater efficiency in the use of scarce public funds and better overall results. NCGASA appreciates the willingness of SBFCA to serve as the lead agency for this joint effort and we fully support the efforts of SBFCA as they seek external funding for this project.