Page 21 - 2015 Annual Project Review

The Central Valley Salmon Partnership (CVSP)
LONG-TERM GOAL
Convene a science-based, multi-stakeholder forum of conservation and fisheries organizations, local, state and federal agencies and private sector partners to work together to build robust fisheries and self-sustaining wild populations of Central Valley salmonids.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Founding partner of the CVSP.
WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE IN 2015-16
• Galvanize the power of the partnership to construct high-impact, high-visibility flagship projects in the short term.
• Collaborate to create a valley-wide implementation plan of prioritized regional restoration actions.
Pilot Floodplain Projects
LONG-TERM GOAL
Facilitate pilot water infrastructure improvement projects that successfully demonstrate multi-benefit use of floodplains.
RECENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Facilitated construction and operation of a fish trapping facility at Knaggs Ranch to document straying of winter run, spring run and fall run Chinook salmon into drainage canals of Yolo and Colusa Basins.
• Facilitated a group of landowners and stakeholders to support a list of early action infrastructure projects to improve fish passage and floodplain rearing on Yolo Bypass.
WHAT WE WILL ACHIEVE IN 2015-16
• Facilitate construction of KLOG Retrofit Project: Build resistance weir to block salmon from entering the Colusa Basin Drain through the Knights Landing Outfall Gates.
• Secure engineering design for the following projects:
1) Fremont Fish Passage Enhancement Project: Retrofit fish passage structure in Fremont Weir to allow connectivity with river and facilitate annual upstream migration of adult salmon and sturgeon. Facilitate study feasibility of entrainment of salmon juveniles from river into Bypass without disrupting Yolo Bypass land uses.
2) Tule Canal Fish Passage And Floodplain Habitat Project: Modernize water infrastructure to prevent stranding and improve passage for adult salmon and sturgeon, prevent stranding of juvenile salmon, and enhance floodplain rearing habitat on 130-acres.
3) Wallace Weir Retrofit: Modernize dirt berm weir by replacing with a year-round operable “bladder dam” structure. Block salmon at Wallace Weir from entering the Colusa Basin Drain. Re-route attraction flow to Upper Tule Canal. Facilitate water management for winter floodplain habitat. Enhance agricultural and wetland water management. Increase floodplain food web subsidy to delta.
WHAT WE DO
Science Into Action
Breaking new ground with the California Trout-UC Davis Partnership.
Dr. Rob Lusardi, Ph.D. CalTrout/ UCD Wild and Coldwater Fish Research Lead
CalTrout is established as a credible scientific leader on fish and water issues in California. Through its partnership with UC Davis, CalTrout will improve its scientific foundation of applied conservation strategies while developing
responses to statewide-big picture threats to native trout and salmon (such as climate change, ongoing drought conditions, introduced and invasive species, and hatchery reform). The partnership will enable CalTrout to provide scientific research, data collection, and analyses to inform adaptive management strategies and viable conservation alternatives aimed at restoring native trout and steelhead throughout their historical range.
Working toward that goal, CalTrout and the UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences (CWS) have extended their partnership by establishing two key positions, The Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Endowed Chair in Coldwater Fishes and the CalTrout-UC Davis Wild and Coldwater Fish Researcher position. These positions were established to ensure that water resource issues with major policy and management implications continue to be informed by robust science. The findings from these collaborations have and will continue to inform broad-scale coldwater fish conservation strategies throughout California.
The Peter B. Moyle and California Trout Endowed Chair in Coldwater Fishes was established in honor of Dr. Moyle and the historical working relationship between CalTrout and UCD. Dr. Moyle’s research, teachings, and outreach are tied to California’s coldwater aquatic ecosystems, especially salmon, trout, and steelhead. These elements ensure that Dr. Moyle’s essential work to recover California salmonids and other fishes will carry on for decades to come, greatly influencing CalTrout’s work.
The CalTrout/UCD Wild and Coldwater Fish Research position establishes the basis for long-term science, specific to CalTrout’s wild and coldwater fish initiatives. This joint appointment between CalTrout and the CWS ensures that CalTrout has a dedicated full-time researcher at UCD working on issues important to the mission. Recognized for his recent work on volcanic spring-fed rivers and coldwater fish habitat in northern California, Dr. Robert Lusardi has been appointed to this position and works closely with the Mt. Shasta Regional office on Shasta River coho issues. In this position, Dr. Lusardi will not only aide CalTrout in its scientific strategy throughout California, but he will also help identify regional priorities and link current Watershed Center researchers to CalTrout projects.
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