The Coldwater Canyon trout in the Santa Ana mountains of Riverside County are one of two remaining native rainbow trout of steelhead lineage that far south in coastal Southern California. They were burned over in the intense Holy Fire in 2018, but thankfully survived. The fish were emergency translocated to another location before the winter rains wiped them out with extreme mud flows. With two fortunate years of cleansing rainfall, the native trout returned back to their waters earlier this year and are reproducing in this inaccessible stream, located on private property. We’d like to give acknowledgements to Riverside-Corona RCD, CDFW Region 6, and the US Forest Service as the leads on monitoring, rescuing, and returning the native trout to Coldwater Canyon.
Coldwater Creek fish rescue from California Trout on Vimeo.
These land-locked populations in Southern California are the remnants of steelhead runs over 100 years earlier. They were identified by molecular genetic analysis by a study completed in 2014, and are recognized as some of the last remaining genetic resources of these steelhead runs.
A recent post-fire native trout translocation has also occurred in the Arroyo Seco after the Bobcat Fire in the San Gabriel Mountains.
This success story is all about California resiliency. CalTrout thanks all those involved for getting this full circle, and supporting the South Coast Steelhead Coalition efforts. Thank you to SoCal Edison for funding CalTrout and California Dept of Fish and Wildlife efforts to proactively plan for post-fire translocation of native trout using a high resolution GIS framework developed by Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission. This framework incorporates stream gradient, geography, flow, trout survey data, proximity to springs, accessibility, and fire perimeter and history maps to identify high quality habitat in Southern California mountains that have the best chance of supporting native trout populations and are least likely to burn in the near future.
Read more about our native rainbow trout sub-population expanse plan from CalTrout’s e-magazine, the Current.
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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
What about Barker Valley, Palomar Mountain?