In 2022, for the first time in over fifty years, Chinook salmon and steelhead were able to swim through Niles Canyon and access the upper Alameda Creek watershed near the town of Sunol. Soon, these fish will be able to consistently swim even further upstream. CalTrout recently was invited to lead a barrier removal project in Sunol Valley to open more than 20 miles of stream to fish. 

Alameda Creek is the largest local tributary to the San Francisco Bay and historically produced the largest numbers of Chinook salmon, lamprey, and steelhead in the South Bay. It is also the ancestral lands of the Muwekma Ohlone people, who depended upon the creek for water, food, shelter. The watershed was the site of numerous permanent settlements. In 2022, former barriers at the BART weir and inflatable bladder dams in Fremont were made passable by fish due to newly constructed fish ladders by the Alameda County Water District. This incredible opportunity for salmonids to migrate throughout the Alameda Creek watershed was the product of decades of hard work to improve fish passage by a myriad of partners in the longstanding Alameda Creek Fisheries Work Group, including the Alameda County Water District (ACWD) and Alameda County Flood Control & Water Conservation District, Alameda Creek Alliance (ACA), California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), Zone 7 Water District, Alameda County Resource Conservation District, Trout Unlimited and the National Marine Fisheries Service, among others. 

CalTrout staff have engaged in the Fisheries Work Group since 2019 and are thrilled to continue this hard work of barrier removal and restoring ecological function further up in the watershed.  We have assisted local partners and trained volunteers to conduct spawning surveys along Alameda Creek since 2022. The current remaining barrier on mainstem Alameda Creek is in Sunol Valley near the 680 freeway. It is created by a major gas pipeline, owned by PG&E, that is covered in a protective layer of concrete which protrudes up into the creek, making it impassable to fish during most streamflows. This past winter, there was sufficient water in the creek to allow fish to swim over the pipeline. But as California’s cycle of drought and deluge continues, resolving this barrier to fish passage will ensure fish access upstream regardless of their species, life stage or size, and if it’s a wet or dry year. 

How will the gas pipeline barrier be addressed? The pipeline will be lowered approximately 17 feet beneath the creek bed, so it no longer protrudes above the creek. The design plans are being developed by McBain Associates Applied River Sciences, a crucial project partner that CalTrout has worked with for many years in our North Coast and Mount Shasta regions.