Bear River

In a classic water grab, Southern California interests propose to dam the Bear River and send our Sierra waters south. Sierra Watch is working to protect the river’s surrounding ranchlands, abundant wildlife habitat – and the river itself.

The Bear River at Garden Bar
Running between the Yuba and American River watersheds, the Bear River tumbles from the granite peaks of Emigrant Gap, through the remote reaches of the California foothills, and into the Great Central Valley.

The Bear serves as the Nevada/Placer County line, provides innumerable swimming holes to local residents, and lends its name to a nearby high school.

Historically, it’s one of the great markers of the Emigrant Trail; the crossing at Garden Bar was the last Sierra river crossing on the journey west.

In recent years, the Garden Bar Region – in the canyons below Highway 49 – lies at the heart of a collaborative investment in permanent protection of working ranches and thriving wildlands.

Proposed Dam
Those resources are at risk. Under the new proposal, the river would be blocked off and the Bear River Canyon flooded by a massive dam.

South Sutter Water District proposes to construct a 350 foot tall dam; estimated size of the reservoir is 310,000 acre feet – more than five times the size of nearby Rollins Lake.

Presumably, water would be shipped south to serve the dam’s initial funders – urban water districts as far away as San Bernadino, 470 miles from the Bear River watershed.

Protected Lands Under Threat
The dam would back up the river and flood an estimated 2,000 acres of Bear River Canyon.

The land itself is characterized by oak woodlands, steep slopes, rocky outcroppings, and seasonal streams. It’s home to more than 300 species, including western skink, bobcat, and California quail.

With its unique set of values, Garden Bar has been a high priority for conservation funding. Placer Land Trust and Bear Yuba Land Trust (formerly Nevada County Land Trust) have invested millions of private and public dollars to protect the region’s habitat, cultural, watershed, hiking, fishing, and ranching resources. The proposed dam would actually submerge land that’s already been protected, including Garden Bar Preserve and Bruin Ranch.

Dams, of course, don’t just flood land. They also stop rivers. The free-flowing Bear provides irreplaceable ecological functions to the region. The Bear provides important habitat for foothill wildlife and a variety of Sierra fish.

Time to Stand for Sierra Rivers
The proposed dam at Garden Bar poses real danger to important Sierra resources: wildlife habitat, cultural resources, watershed function, and working ranchlands – as well as to the Bear River itself.

The threat extends beyond local and immediate impacts. The project could create a new template for an old-fashioned water grab: distant Southern California water users target a small, agricultural district through which to construct a dam, impound Sierra water, and wheel it south.

In the decades to come, pressure on California’s limited water resources will certainly increase. For many water providers, the simple answer will be more dams in the Sierra Nevada – and they will try to stake their claims in our mountains, on our rivers, in our canyons.

Now is the time to demonstrate our resolve to defend not just the Bear River at Garden Bar – it’s time to stand up for all rivers in the Sierra.

For more information, contact Peter Van Zant, Sierra Watch Field Director, and contribute to the ‘Save the Bear River Fund’ by clicking on the ‘Donate’ tab above.