January was a crazy weather month. Our staff in our Mammoth, Shasta and South Lake Tahoe offices all got good workouts shoveling out of massive snow storms. January leaves us with Shasta Reservoir at 120% of average and a Sierra snowpack around 200% of average. Recent rains have helped Southern California, though it is still drier than normal. Cachuma Reservoir on the Santa Ynez river, an important steelhead river and primary source of water for the city of Santa Barbara, is only at 11%. SoCal typically gets the majority of its precipitation in February and March, so here’s hoping the area catches up.
Has California recovered from the drought? No. Most notably, groundwater has been severely depleted and needs to be replenished. The Sustainable Groundwater Management Act of 2014 has helped promote groundwater recharge efforts but it will take numerous wet years and progressive management to recharge groundwater levels, especially in the Central Valley.
CalTrout staff and Board headed to Scotia on the Eel River this month for a board meeting and project tour. It was awesome, the Eel was running at 80,000 cfs, big and brown—and down from a peak a couple days earlier of 249,000 cfs! Such a contrast to a trip I made in September of 2014 when the river was running completely dry at the Ferndale Bridge.
That’s a good thing for California’s third largest watershed–the drought coinciding with an explosion in marijuana cultivation hit this area hard. And yes, I hear you steelhead anglers, the Eel has given up few fishable days—keep your eyes on those hydrographs, keep your spey rod in the car and be ready to go on a moment’s notice. You can take comfort in knowing these flows, pouring out of the veins of this vast watershed, are providing pathways for migrating steelhead and salmon to access areas they have been unable to get to in years.
You’ve been hearing a lot about the Eel from us lately. Humboldt Steelhead Days is in full swing, our Return to Abundance film is running crazy on social media, and our North Coast staff is running hard to implement our headwaters to the sea approach to restoring the Eel. For us it’s simple. The Eel River presents the best opportunity for a return to historic fish abundance then anywhere in the Pacific Northwest.
If you haven’t yet watched Return to Abundance or read the latest issue of The Current, please do. You’ll come to understand why we believe the Eel is a special place primed for a comeback and what we’re doing to help get it there.
We’ll be rolling out more of our Eel story and plan over the next few weeks. Please watch, share and let us know what you think.
Thank you for your interest in the Eel River Forum! We looking forward to sharing meeting updates and other info from the Eel River watershed with you as they develop.
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Thank you for your interest in Big Chico Creek and the Iron Canyon Fish Passage Project! We looking forward to sharing project updates, news, and stories with you from the Big Chico Creek watershed as they develop.
Thank you for your interest in Big Chico Creek and the Iron Canyon Fish Passage Project! One of our staff members will do their best to get back to you as soon as possible. However, please note that due to limited capacity we may not be able to respond to all questions or fulfill all requests.
Let us know if you are interested in volunteering and we will get in contact with you as soon as we can.
Thank you for your interest in the Elk River! One of our North Coast Region staff members will do their best to get back to you as soon as possible. However, please note that due to limited capacity we may not be able to respond to all questions or fulfill all requests.
Peter Moyle is the Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Department of Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology and Associate Director of the Center for Watershed Sciences, at UC Davis. He is author or co-author of more than 240 publications, including the definitive Inland Fishes of California (2002). He is co-author of the 2017 book, Floodplains: Processes and Management for Ecosystem Services. His research interests include conservation of aquatic species, habitats, and ecosystems, including salmon; ecology of fishes of the San Francisco Estuary; ecology of California stream fishes; impact of introduced aquatic organisms; and use of floodplains by fish.
Robert Lusardi is the California Trout/UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher focused on establishing the basis for long-term science specific to California Trout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. His work bridges the widening gap between academic science and applied conservation policy, ensuring that rapidly developing science informs conservation projects throughout California. Dr. Lusardi resides at the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences and works closely with Dr. Peter Moyle on numerous projects to help inform California Trout conservation policy. His recent research interests include Coho salmon on the Shasta River, the ecology of volcanic spring-fed rivers, inland trout conservation and management, and policy implications of trap and haul programs for anadromous fishes in California.
Patrick Samuel is the Conservation Program Coordinator for California Trout, a position he has held for almost two years, where he coordinates special research projects for California Trout, including the State of the Salmonids report. Prior to joining CalTrout, he worked with the Fisheries Leadership & Sustainability Forum, a non-profit that supports the eight federal regional fishery management councils around the country. Patrick got his start in fisheries as an undergraduate intern with NOAA Fisheries Protected Resources Division in Sacramento, and in his first field job as a crew member of the California Department of Fish & Wildlife’s Wild and Heritage Trout Program.