We’re pleased to announce that California Trout will receive a $250,000 award in support of our Nigiri Project, which promotes a multi-benefit approach to water management in the Central Valley to support both native fish recovery and agriculture.
The award from Battery Powered, a program of The Battery Foundation, is one of several granted by the organization in support of a resource revolution “to transform California’s food, water and energy systems.” CalTrout was one of only three organizations to receive its full funding request from Battery Powered, which is funded by a private group of donors, many of whom are active in California’s cutting-edge technology industry.
We are honored by this award from Battery Powered, which recognizes that fish and farms can and must coexist. This award will allow us to scale-up our efforts to recover the Central Valley’s native fish populations while also supporting agriculture.”
– Jacob Katz, PhD, CalTrout Central California Director
The Nigiri Project works with farmers to manage their fields as temporary floodplains to support the rapid growth of juvenile salmon, which increases the chances of the species’ long-term survival. Juvenile fish that are larger and healthier when they enter the ocean have better odds of returning as adults to reproduce.
For four consecutive winters, experiments conducted on Central Valley fields have documented the fastest growth of juvenile Chinook salmon ever recorded in California. The results suggest that through better planning and engineering, farm fields that produce agricultural crops in summer could also produce food and habitat for fish and wildlife during winter when crops are not grown.
“Our work shows that California can break out of the farms vs. fish mentality,” continued Katz. “When we get the most pop per drop of water from water used, fish and people both benefit.”
We will use the award funds to scale-up multi-benefit uses of Central Valley floodplains. The goal of the project is to make California’s water supply more secure for both people and fish by creating a water system that works with natural processes, instead of against them.
To see the Battery Powered presentations and learn more about the award, click here. For more about our work in the Central Valley click here.
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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.