By Patrick Samuel
CalTrout Bay Area Regional Director
A winter storm is expected to blow through Northern California, bringing much-needed rain to the Valley and snow to the Sierra.
Rain coming in waves like it is this week is huge for fish. To date, we are really behind in precipitation across most of the state and this sustained rain does a few things:
- increases streamflows to signal to migrate steelhead to move upstream
- decreases water temperatures
- hopefully reconnects tributaries to mainstem creeks and rivers
- hopefully pushes open the sandbar-built estuaries like Pescadero
The fact that we have had rain consistently for several days this week makes sure we avoid precipitation events that draw fish upstream followed by long stretches of dry weather which can cause them to get stuck in rivers where they currently are. Higher flows from increased rain that allow fish to keep moving and get where they need to go, both upstream and down, and avoids big drops in streamflow that could leave redds high and dry.
Fingers crossed for more rain this water year.
