Solving complex resource issues while balancing the needs of wild fish and people.
LEVEL OF CONCERN: MODERATE
Klamath Mountain Province (KMP) winter steelhead are in a state of decline from historical numbers in the Klamath Basin. These ocean-maturing fish are relatively more widespread than the stream-maturing summer-run fish, yet still face an uncertain future due to reductions in suitable habitat.
Lack of strong, coordinated protection for wild stocks, combined with reductions in habitat associated with climate change, will continue to negatively impact KMP winter steelhead. Due to dam operations selecting for resident life histories, low adult returns, and negative impacts on wild fish, Iron Gate Hatchery on the Klamath River stopped rearing steelhead in 2013.
Scroll down for more information about the KMP winter steelhead. To read the full species account, click here.
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Click here to learn about CalTrout’s overall “Return to Resilience” plan to save California’s salmonids from extinction.
The KMP winter steelhead range includes all coastal rivers and creeks throughout the Klamath-Trinity rivers basin north to the Elk River near Port Orford, Oregon. in the Klamath River, they historically ascended all major rivers and tributaries, and likely spawned in tributaries to Upper Klamath lake before passage was blocked by a chain of dams. in the Trinity River, steelhead historically utilized each of the North, South, East, and Stuart forks of the river until lewiston Dam blocked upstream access to much of this historical habitat.
KMP winter steelhead are not as vulnerable as KMP summer steelhead due to their migration timing. As a result of climate change, all KMP watersheds are expected to see increases in stream temperatures, which will reduce available habitat. Snowmelt-fed rivers (e.g.,Salmon and Scott rivers) may see sharp decreases in streamflows during the spring and summer months. The timing of peak flows has already shifted in the Klamath River — nearly a month earlier than existed historically.
The Klamath Dams (Klamath River), Dwinnell Dam (Shasta River), and Lewiston Dam (Trinity River) block access to hundreds of miles of potential migration, spawning, and nursery habitat for KMP winter steelhead, and reduce streamflows during important migration periods.
The Trinity River Hatchery releases hundreds of thousands of juvenile steelhead each year, which negatively impact wild steelhead in the KMP through increased competition, predation, hybridization and reduced fitness over time.
Historical hydraulic mining in KMP watersheds removed spawning gravels, simplified stream reaches, and reduced suitable habitat. The Scott, Salmon, and South Fork Trinity rivers still bear the scars of past mining that limit steelhead production through excessive sedimentation.
Problem: Two dams completely block access to over 100 miles of quality spawning and rearing habitat.
Goal: Conduct surveys above Lake Pillsbury to quantify the amount of habitat historically available to salmon and steelhead pre-dams and use the findings to guide the relicensing process and options.
Result: A solution to the dams that balances the needs of wild fish and people.
Problem: Hundreds of miles of tributaries are impassable– key salmon spawning grounds cut off by a myriad of barriers.
Goal: Remove the barriers! Two down, over a dozen to go.
Result: Salmon and steelhead have access to hundreds of miles of natal spawning habitat.
Problem: Consistent flows of cold water are diverted to an exploding legal and illegal cannabis industry. Compounded by four years of drought, some headwater streams now run dry.
Goal: Quantify flows required for fish survival. Use data to influence state policy to better regulate and guarantee streamflows for wild fish.
Result: Salmon and steelhead have enough water in the South Fork Eel to rear in summer and thrive.
Problem: Years of degradation have compromised the estuary.
Goal: Restore tidal marsh lands and passage into tidal slough channels.
Result: Salmon and steelhead rear in high quality habitat growing big and strong before entering ocean.
Conservationists can now point to the largest dam removal project in the U.S. as a success story. The ecosystem of Washington’s Elwha River has been thriving since the removal of its hydroelectric dam system. Recent surveys show dramatic recovery, especially in the near shore at the river’s mouth, where the flow of sediment has created favorable habitat for the salmon population. A new generation of salmon species, some of which are endangered, are now present in the river. Some hope that the restoration of the Elwha River will become a shining example for the removal of dams across the U.S.
PG&E’s Potter Valley Project consists of two dams on the upper mainstem of the Eel River that block access to important high elevation habitat. These dams are coming up for re-licensing next year—a once in 50 years opportunity. CalTrout is working with Humboldt State University to assess habitat conditions above the dams—specifically how many miles of spawning and rearing habitat there is, and how many fish can be produced. Established science will legitimize and empower our demand for improved fish passage as a condition of re-licensing this dam.
Visit the Eel River Recovery Keystone Initiative page to learn more about our work headwaters-to-sea approach to bringing the Eel’s salmon and steelhead back to historic abundance.
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The Matilija dam on the Ventura River has long been on the list of obsolete dams and now, new innovative removal plans are garnering broad support. CalTrout is working with Patagonia, Surfrider Foundation, the Matilija Coalition, and Ventura County on a funding plan to get the dam removed and habitat restored for critically endangered Southern steelhead. Funding was awarded in December 2016 through California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Proposition 1 grants program to advance the project to 65% design phase and complete the environmental and permitting requirements over the next 3 years. As part of the Matilija Coalition, we were also awarded a $175K grant from the Open Rivers Fund, a program operated by Resources Legacy Fund and funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
CalTrout and partners are currently pursuing more funding opportunities to fuel the Matilija dam removal project. We are committed to this long-term effort. Support our work and help steelhead return home.
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In 1918, the first dam was finished on the Klamath River, blocking hundreds of miles of spawning and rearing habitat for steelhead and salmon. In the following years, three more dams were built.
Now, nearly a hundred years later, a deal has been signed, the funding is in place, and the dams are coming out in 2020. Now we must plan for years of habitat restoration. The removal of these four dams on the Klamath River will open up fish passage to over 400 miles of historic spawning habitat, allowing the salmon and steelhead to return home!
Read more about the Klamath dams and the long battle for their removal in the Winter 2015 issue of The Current.
