The Bay Area’s San Francisquito Creek is finding itself in the news these days, and often not for the right reasons.
This time, it’s because the dewatered stream — which runs through the heart of the Silicon Valley and is home to Stanford’s much-maligned Searsville Dam — became the burial ground for several more endangered Steelhead (from a Beyond Searsville email):
This past weekend, Menlo Park resident and author Mike Lanza and his young sons hiked along San Francisquito Creek near the Stanford Shopping Center and encountered a terrible site. Only a small puddle remained in the dry creek and two threatened steelhead trout lay dead around the edge of the disappearing water. Receiving these photos from watershed residents and kids that love the creek is always a heartbreaker and more and more we are being asked “Why does this keep happening?”.
You can read the rest of the sad story here, or visit the Beyond Searsville Dam website 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.
1 Comment
Saying you’re a “sustainable” university is one thing, practicing sustainability is another. Come on Stanford, get with it! Why aren’t the resource agencies all over Stanford for not releasing any flows below Searsville Dam?!?!