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Hello Everyone, We thank NID for cleaning up the mess it created at Hemphill Dam as a result of two years of unsuccessful tweaking in futile efforts to get salmon over the Hemphill Dam. All NID has done is return Hemphill Dam to its state of being the formidable barrier to salmon passage it has been since 1989, when NID replaced the blowout dam from being washed out by flood waters with the unpermitted monstrosity we see today. Continue reading →

Salmon are being held hostage by NID to pressure Foothill Water District (FWN), of which Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead is a member, to withdraw its formal protest against NID to correct these water rights violations. “Some have asked what our plan is for this site (Hemphill Dam) and that is a great question,” NID General Manager Remleh Scherzinger wrote. “We are currently negotiating with the Foothill Water Network regarding a filing with the State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) and Hemphill is caught in that process. Continue reading →

Many individuals and agencies have worked diligently to get salmon 22 miles up Auburn Ravine to the current blockage at Hemphill Dam. NOAA Special Agent Don Tanner brought nine downstream dams into compliance with NOAA regulations; that is, all dams are removed by October 15 and stay down until April 15 each year. Albert Scheiber installed a fish screen over his water outtake. South Sutter Water District, Family Water Alliance, and others have worked to install fish screens on Pleasant Grove Canal, which is said to trap and kill up to 90% of young salmon as they try to reach the Pacific Ocean. And under their former management, Nevada Irrigation District (NID), with a large grant from CalFed, and contributions from Placer County, Dry Creek Conservancy, Granite Bay Flycasters, and the Bella Vista Foundation implemented the fish ladder at the Lincoln Gauging Station. Save Auburn Ravine Salmon and Steelhead (SARSAS), Auburn Ravine Preservation Committee, Dry Creek Conservancy, Placer Legacy, Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA, the California State Waterboard and many others have combined to get salmon to as far upstream as they are today. But dozens of salmon (some 2 to 3 feet long) are currently trapped below Hemphill Dam. Some did get over the dam in our last high-water year, but so far this year, none have made it. Much talk and planning has taken place, but action is needed to get salmon over Hemphill Dam. The salmon were in Auburn Ravine on October 15, but NID management did not even apply to California Fish and Wildlife (CFW) for a permit to modify the dam for salmon passage until November 2, too late because salmon were already at Hemphill Dam — construction would have negatively impacted them. We met with NID leadership at the dam in October 2013 to plan fish passage (see photo) but to date they have not completed the implementation. The City of Auburn recently authorized a Resolution of Support to get salmon to Ashford Park and Auburn School Park Preserve. The city is visionary because, located on Highway 80, many visitors will stop in Auburn to watch salmon spawn, bringing real economic benefits for the city. Taylor Creek, for example, on Highway 89 near South Lake Tahoe has a small non-native kokanee salmon run. During spawning season, ten thousand people come to their visitor center each week to watch the kokanee spawn. Salmon are already in two parks in Lincoln. Stantec has installed signage on Auburn Ravine at McBean Park. Wildlife Heritage Foundation continues the Salmon Celebration instituted by SARSAS, now in its fifth year. Plans are underway to clean up the old dumpsite in Lincoln. When that is completed, beautiful frontage along Auburn Ravine could be opened up, and viewing stands could be installed so visitors view our wild 30-pound native salmon as they surge upstream. CFW’s Mike Healey recently completed a study which showed that, in addition to Fall Run Chinook Salmon, Auburn Ravine is also home to Winter and Spring Run Salmon. Agent Healey’s findings lift the bar on protection needed for our salmon because Winter Run salmon were listed as an endangered species on January 4, 1994, and Spring Run Chinook salmon were listed as a threatened species on September 16, 1999 by National Marine Fisheries Service. SARSAS Board Member, Robert Hane, is coordinating restoration of North Ravine, a major tributary of Auburn Ravine. That project will allow salmon to spawn there when they are finally able to get to the Auburn area. Damion Ciotti of US Fish and Wildlife Service, Amanda Vasquez of the Sierra Native Alliance and their Native Youth Conservation Corps, and Carrie Monroe of the California Conservation Corps have all been instrumental in that program. SARSAS Program Director Steve Hubbard envisioned a SARSAS Citizen Science Program (SCSP) for Migratory Fishes (Anadromy), using volunteers to gather data on Auburn Ravine. He, and Coordinator Jim Haufler, are implementing the Program with Peter Moyle, the salmon scholar from UC Davis, as their advisor. Up to 20 volunteers record vital data weekly on salmon migration, and habitat, and record their data at the iNaturalist.org web site, a place where you can record what you see in nature, meet other nature lovers, and learn about the natural world. Many good things are happening as a result of salmon returning and spawning in Auburn Ravine, but salmon must be allowed to continue upstream past Hemphill Dam. Returning salmon to the entire length of Auburn Ravine will provide countless benefits, many unforeseen at this time. Because of all the benefits to salmon, and people in the Auburn-Lincoln area, we are looking forward to a renewed commitment by NID to resolve their issues so salmon can be returned to the entire 33-mile length of Auburn Ravine.

Nevada Irrigation District (NID) has plans to build two new dams on the Bear River to once again increase its bottom line at the expense of the environment. Their plans seem a little premature when they have proven to be anything but good stewards of the two dams they have on Auburn Ravine, blocking three runs of salmon from reaching prime spawning gravels. NID has made happy talk about providing fish passage for years and former NID General Manager Ron Nelson did manage to drag his board into providing fish passage over the Lincoln Gauging Station so salmon could advance two miles up Auburn Ravine to NID’s Hemphill Dam, which is now the barrier preventing the salmon below it from getting over to spawn. The new management continues the old happy talk. The biggest barrier to fish passage is the Gold Hill Dam over which NID refuses, so far, to even talk about creating fish passage. If NID ever starts looking at fish passage straight on and provides for the salmon in Auburn Ravine blocked by its two dams, then maybe it has earned the right to think about two more dams blocking Bear River fish passage. Former NID General Manager Ron Nelson worked tirelessly to turn around the negative image it had for decades with some success; the new management has managed to reverse that progress in a very short time and once again NID has image issues. Until it helps Auburn Ravine salmon get over its dams, NID maintains its self-imposed state of paralysis and hopes that somehow salmon on their own will miraculously fly over its dams.

(OPEN TO THE PUBLIC) 175 Fulweiler Avenue (the Domes), Auburn, CA 95603 Contact: SARSAS President Jack Sanchez at 530-888-0281, VP Gary Mapa will conduct meetings when Jack’s away. jlsanchez39@gmail.com Meetings are Fourth Monday of each month at 10-11 a.m. Meetings are held to one hour in length ending at 11 a.m. I. Self- introductions and sign-ins. II. SARSAS Philosophy – We believe by working together with many individuals and agencies at the same table, we can achieve the mission of SARSAS, which is to return salmon and steelhead to the entire 33 mile length of the Auburn Ravine III. February 23, 2015, Pamela C. Creedon, Executive Officer, Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board, “Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and Auburn Ravine” Pamela Creedon is the Executive Officer of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board. She is a licensed Civil Engineer and a Board Certified Environmental Engineer with nearly 35 years of professional experience, including over 23 years of experience in both the public and private sector developing and implementing water quality regulatory programs. She holds a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Civil Engineering from California State University, Sacramento. She is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Academy of Environmental Engineers and Tau Beta Pi. She serves on the American Society of Civil Engineers National Energy, Environment and Water Policy Committee and the CSU Sacramento Environmental and Water Resources Advisory Committee. She is a Vice-Chair of the Sacramento Chapter of the Environmental & Water Resources Institute (SCEWRI) of the American Society of Civil Engineers and is a member of the Board of Directors for the San Francisco Estuary Institute Aquatic Science Center. The Central Valley Water Board is the largest Regional Board in the State, encompassing nearly 40% of California’s land area and includes all or part of 38 of California’s 58 counties and nearly 80% of the state’s irrigated agricultural land. In total, water from the Central Valley provides more than 50% of the State’s total water supply, provides drinking water for 25 million Californians and irrigation for millions of acres of farms in and out of the valley. As Executive Officer Pamela is responsible for the planning, organizing, directing, and administering of all activities and functions of the Central Valley Water Board which is comprised of 257 multi-disciplinary staff located in three offices within the Central Valley. Upcoming Speakers: March 23, 2015, Charlotte Ambrose, National Marine Fisheries Service, West Coast Region, “The Social Science of Saving Salmon” Charlotte Ambrose is the California Programs Coordinator for NOAA Fisheries out of Sacramento, California, and has worked for NOAA over 15 years. She recently served in the capacity of Recovery Coordinator responsible for developing and implementing recovery plans for central coast coho salmon, Chinook salmon and steelhead. She is currently the statewide liaison for NOAA Fisheries on salmon and steelhead programs and initiatives of regional significance such as the State Fisheries Restoration Grant Program, State Monitoring Program, Interagency Ecological Program, Hatchery Policy, Science Center coordination and many others. She has experience in both the private and public sectors and is most widely recognized for her NOAA leadership on California forestry issues. April 27, 2015, Heidi Perryman, Ph.D., President and Founder, Worth a Dam, “Beaver Restoration in Urban Creeks” Dr. Perryman formed Worth A Dam to defend the beavers in her home town of Martinez CA. Along the way she became interested in helping other cities learn how and why to co-exist with beavers. Since 2008 she has organized an annual beaver festival that has inspired similar efforts in 5 states and Canada. As California faces more drought years, she believes it is more important than ever to coexist with these important ‘water savers’. In addition to the beaver festival, Worth A Dam does several community outreach and education programs a year, including field trips and class room visits. In 2010 they awarded their first scholarship in beaver management to advocates in Tahoe. In 2011 Dr. Perryman presented at the state of the beaver conference in Oregon, and the State parks conference in Yosemite. She collaborated with beaver management expert Michael Callahan of Massachusetts to help release an instructional DVD teaching how to live with beavers (featuring footage of the Martinez Beavers). Most recently she worked with a historian, archaeologist and biologist to publish groundbreaking research on the western fur trade and the original prevalence of beavers in California – a subject that has been surprisingly misunderstood for a nearly a century Beavers and their dams create wetlands, store and filter water, augment fish populations, raise the number of migratory and songbirds, and have a dramatic positive impact on wildlife. Dr. Perryman feels that working to help people understand and coexist with this single species will continue to have a dramatic trickle-down impact on the environment in general. May 18, 2015 -MEETS THIRD MONDAY OF MAY, Steve Hubbard, SARSAS Program Director, “SARSAS Movie Making” My career in the telecommunications industry included positions such as director of Engineering for Jones Intercable, with engineering and operations responsibilities for cable television networks from Hawaii to London. In 1990, I co-founded Phoenix FiberLink, which built and operated large scale fiber optic networks to provide mission critical high speed data connections to large corporations. FiberLink was the first company to develop a fiber optic SONET ring around Silicon Valley. In 1999 I co-founded Netstream, an advanced data communications company. As CEO of Netstream, I oversaw the construction and operation of the highest speed MPLS Core public network ever measured at the time. The network connected key locations on the west coast. As a photojournalist, I have focused on issues related to the West. In addition to many magazine articles, my books include Powerhouses of the Sierra Nevada and a novel about the early days of the CIA titled The Legend of Roswell. My wildlife and scenic photographs have been featured in California galleries and exhibits including the Governor’s Exhibit at the State Capitol. Video projects include a recently completed documentary about the history of hydroelectric power in the Sierra Nevada titled Power to the People. I am currently producing a documentary about wild salmon, called Dance of Life Dance of Death. As a child I lived in many places in the intermountain west and developed a lifelong appreciation for its history and Studies. My web site is www.goldcountryimages.com, and my email address is steverhubbard@gmail.com.environment. As a hard core fly fisherman, my greatest pleasure in life is to spend an afternoon on a mountain stream catching and releasing wild trout. I graduated from Chico State University with a degree from The Center for Information and Communications June 22, 2015, Darryl Hayes, ISI, “Update on the Installation of Fish Screens on Pleasant Grove Canal” July 27, 2015, Mike Love, P.E., Hydraulic Engineer, Mike Love and Associates, “Planning Fish Passage on Auburn Ravine” August 24, 2015, Jeff Tooker and Rick Hitchcock, Placer Union High School District Administrators, “Migratory Fish (Anadromy) Citizen Science in PUHSD” September 28, 2015, Beaver Specialist Mary Tappel, “Beaver Management in the Age of Anadromy” October 26, 2015, Jack and Beverly Sales, “Dark Skies and Salmon” November 23, 2015, Peter Moyle, “Details of Reconciliation Ecology for Auburn Ravine Salmon” December 28, 2015 Rich Marovich invited to speak January 25, 2016 Ken Davis invited to speak

Wild Salmon or Tri-Tip Dinner Wine Dinners BENEFIT DINNERS FOR SARSAS HOSTED BY PESCATORE WINERY WWW.PESCATOREWINES.COM • ENTREES – CHOOSE WILD SALMON OR TRI-TIPS DINNERS • SATURDAY MAY 16, 2015 AT 6:00pm • Pescatore Winery, 7065 Ridge Rd. Newcastle 95658 • $45 per person; reserve early; dinner is limited to 85 attendees. • Dancing to the music of Jukebox , the great sounds we all danced to last few years • Dinner, silent auction & wine sales all benefiting SARSAS • Call Jack Sanchez for reservations and make checks payable to SARSAS (Tax ID 80-0291680) as a donation and it will be tax deductible for you. Let Jack know your dinner choices. Send checks made out to SARSAS to PO Box 4269, Auburn, CA95604. Call Jack Sanchez at 530 888 0281 for reservations or email him at jlsanchez39@gmail.com.

Salmon are being held hostage by NID to pressure Foothill Water District (FWN) of which SARSAS is a member to withdraw its formal protest against NID to correct these water rights violations. New NID General Manager Remleh Scherzinger wrote: “Some have asked what our plan is for this site [Hemphill Dam] and that is a great question. We are currently negotiating with the Foothill Water Network regarding a filing with the State Water Resource Control Board (SWRCB) and Hemphill is caught in that process. I would imagine that as soon as those talks are complete we would begin working on a long-term solution to our problem.” He is clearing telling FWN to withdraw its protest in return for fish passage on Hemphill Dam. He is using salmon as a political ploy, hoping he does not need to correct these nine water rights violations. And there is no need for “a long term solution to our problem”. Fish passage at Hemphill could easily and quickly be corrected at a reasonable cost; talking of “a long term solution” is also a political ploy to magnify the extent of the fish passage project or dam removal. Chris Shutes, CSPA and Negotiator for FWN, wrote: “People have asked and opined about this, and I’d like to provide my own perspective. In 2009, the State Water Board (SWRCB) posted a notice that NID was petitioning to amend 9 of its water right permits and 4 of its water right licenses. Over the years, NID operations and facilities had changed, and the permits and licenses no longer accurately described them. The stated purpose of the petitions was to line up the language in the permits and licenses with current facilities and operations. The Foothills Water Network, a coalition of environmental groups which includes SARSAS and my organization, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), protested NID’s petitions. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) and the National Marine Fisheries Services also protested (it wasn’t just the Network and its member groups).” It is a sad commentary on NID’s callous disregard for salmon and the environment of Auburn Ravine to see that salmon have become a pawn in NID’s negotiating process to avoid correcting its nine water rights violations. Former NID General Manager Ron Nelson worked for eight year to improve NID’s soiled image and had some success. New General Manager Remleh Scherzinger has done much to return NID to its former status as a maverick water contractor. Remember, NID has spent over $488,000 in August just on filing fees for its $160,000,000 proposed Parker Dam Project on Bear River designed to increase gigantically its bottom line at the expense once again of the environment. If NID ignores its environment responsibilities on Auburn Ravine, why should be given additional dams to operate?

Would be wonderful to have a water contractor like Oakdale Irrigation District with Steve Knell as General Manager on Auburn Ravine, but sadly we do not have a water contractor concerned with the well-being of fishes and riparian habitat … rather sad and disquieting that so much natural beauty and goodness are being ignored by the Nevada Irrigation District ( NID ), the water contractor using Auburn Ravine only as a delivery system for water to its customers with little regard for the life in the Ravine but with much regard for profit. You are invited to watch the video that has a model stewardship agency protecting the river. Replenishing a River: Stanislaus River Honolulu Bar Restoration, comes to life in this new video. Funded in large part by the Oakdale Irrigation District (OID), the project created vital habitat to improve the numbers of young salmon and steelhead rearing on a two-and-a-half acre region of the Stanislaus River and was made possible by OID’s commitment to stewardship and giving back to the Stanislaus River. Just highlight, then click on link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yM9gfiIQLA&list=UUaHWeevSgMm8fs0sbqM_p0Q —