Yuba County pipeline disaster threatens annual salmon field trip for 1,500 students

When a massive pipeline failed in Northern California's Yuba County earlier this year, the focus quickly turned to repairs. Six months later, the ripple effects are reaching beyond the mountainside.

Disaster struck in February at the Yuba Water Agency's Colgate Powerhouse. The mile-long penstock pipe failed, sending hundreds of thousands of gallons of water and a mudslide down the mountain.

Cleanup is coming along, but it is still underway.

With the agency's time and money being focused on critical missions only, the incident is trickling down into more than just the reservoir — it's dipping into community grant funds.

Yuba Water Agency gives millions out each year to community organizations that further their mission. Grants go toward flood risk projects, forest health and water education. It is also jeopardizing a vital field trip for roughly 1,500 students.

"They would never get anything like this if it wasn't for these organizations. We have many students that don't leave their hometown," said Roxanne Eggar, a teacher.

Each year, Yuba Water funds a salmon expedition for all fourth graders in the county. The idea is to get the next generation of kids interested in conservation.

"I know a lot of people say, 'Well, it's just a field trip. They can do it.' Not for my kids!" Eggar said.

Eggar is a fourth-grade teacher at Linda Elementary, a title 1, low-income school. She says that without the free program, a lot of her students wouldn't ever see the river, which is basically in their backyard.

"Affording something like this would never happen, probably in their lifetimes. It's something that my team and I work very hard to do. We've actually started a GoFundMe page for our students," she said.

They're not the only ones raising money to cover the expedition.

"Their excitement rubs off on all of us. It doesn't matter how many times I've seen a salmon or how many times we've gone down this river. It's always different and is always so much fun," said Monique Streit, the education director at South Yuba River Citizens League, or SYRCL.

SYRCL and the Yuba County Educational Foundation are collaborating to save this program by trying to raise $150,000 to get the kids on the water again come fall.

"Fourth grade is such a special age too where they're independent thinkers, they're figuring out who they are. It's the primetime to get them out on the water like this," Streit said.

The program starts and ends in the classroom with students learning all about the watershed and a salmon's journey to the ocean and back. But in between, the students are getting hands-on experience in the Yuba River, and they want to keep it that way.

"That probably would be pretty upsetting, especially for all those third graders who were looking forward to it," one student, Raylan, said.

The Yuba Water Agency says 80% of their revenue comes from the Colgate Powerhouse, which isn't operating right now due to the damage from the pipe failure. The agency expects to get their finances on track within the next few years, but in the meantime, some programs, like the salmon expedition, are suffering.

"Those hands-on experiences make all the difference, and they're going to remember it for the rest of their lives," Streit said.

The organizations are hoping to raise funds for years to come.