California’s snowpack remains stubbornly opposed to melting, and the latest figures are startling; the Northern Sierra snowpack/wetpack is at 465% of normal for this time of year (May 31).
What’s it mean? It suggests California’s fly fishermen will be seeing high runoff flows far later than normal — and that the flows on many rivers now are only precursors of what’s to come.
What’s going on?
Couple a record snowpack (170% of normal at the end of the April 1 snow year) with a very cold, wet spring, and you have a situation where the snowpack is melting very slowly. In fact, recent cold storms have added to the snowpack at higher altitudes.
With rivers like the Upper Sacramento — which often features flows in excess of 10,000 cfs this time of year — still flowing around 2000 cfs, it’s clear that anglers better fish now, because once high flows arrive, they’ll stay high for some time.
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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.
1 Comment
I hope your work someday will stretch into Western Mexico. There are many endemic trout species here in western Mexico including a Golden Trout. So far trout have been discovered as far south as southern Durango state with rumors of trout further south in the Sierra Madre del Sur. These are native trout and not rainbows although the latter have been planted in some streams.