By Darren Mierau
CalTrout North Coast Regional Director
A few weeks ago, local pilot Tim Hanan flew over the southern portion of the Eel River delta in the area of Centerville Beach. Our 5-year design effort with The Wildlands Conservancy and agricultural landowners included the former tidelands just to the north of Centerville.
Small wave incursions over the dunes began about 20 years ago, and have been slowly increasing, but earlier this month all hell broke loose. A major portion of the Centerville dune system is now washed away by high tides and large storm surge, a catastrophic loss. A large area of productive agricultural lands were damanged. It appears the whole dune system south of the Eel River mouth is slowly unzipping, moving south to north.
Seeing the steady progression over time from Google Earth images is remarkable. The images below attempt to recreate the image from the same perspective in 2004 and 2019 as the January 2021 photo, to give some reference. The January 2021 wave incursion reached a quarter-mile inland toward the local ranch houses.
Our project was going to restore Russ Creek’s connection to Eel River, but soon it may just drain straight to the Pacific Ocean.
Left: Google Earth imagery from 2004. Right: Google Earth imagery from 2019.
Does this change our design approach for North Coast Estuaries?
That’s a good question. I think Sea Level Rise has to drive some important considerations: how much we invest in certain locations, avoiding muted tidal systems and diked/leveed wetlands, experimentation with living shorelines which are currently challenging to permit because they require placement of fill. These things have already been driving designs, but this event puts the exclamation point on it.
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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.