Environmental

California funds pilot project for salmon reintroduction above Shasta Dam

California funds pilot project for salmon reintroduction above Shasta Dam
Adult spring-run Chinook salmon broodstock at the Interim Salmon Conservation and Research Facility/iSCARF in Friant, CA on January 7, 2020. (CDFW Photo/Paul Adelizi)

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) awarded the Department of Water Resources (DWR) $1.5 million for the Juvenile Salmonid Collection System Pilot Project in the McCloud Arm of Shasta Reservoir.

The project will test a collection system that would be an integral part of reintroducing endangered winter-run chinook salmon and other runs of salmon to their historical habitat. In the 1940s, construction of Shasta and Keswick dams blocked winter-run chinook salmon from reaching their spawning grounds in the McCloud River. They began spawning instead in the Sacramento River below the dams, where they are exposed to the summer heat.

Shasta Dam, and its associated 633 MW hydroelectric powerhouse, is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. Water managers release water from Shasta Reservoir to reduce river temperatures to improve egg survival. Drought and climate change will make that increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible, CDFW said.

Biologists and engineers need to collect juvenile salmon once they hatch in the cold McCloud River and before they swim into Shasta Reservoir, where they are at risk from predators and other threats. The collection system, located just downstream from where the river enters the reservoir, would funnel colder water – and the young fish – to a collection point. The fish would be transported around Shasta Dam and released into the Sacramento River to continue their migration to the Pacific Ocean.

The collection system consists of a debris boom, guidance net, fish trap and temperature curtain, which is planned to be tested from mid-September to mid-November 2022. Biologists and engineers from DWR, CDFW and NOAA Fisheries plan to test the system but would not release winter-run chinook salmon into Shasta reservoir. A fish release would occur once the collector is fully tested and its operation is successful.

“The time for action is now,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. He said that recent droughts have “decimated” winter-run Chinook salmon populations in the Sacramento River below Shasta Dam. Climate change is expected to repeat this situation with increasing regularity. “With our state, federal and tribal partners, we can help this iconic run of Chinook salmon and increase the flexibility of California’s limited water supplies.”

Barry Thom, regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region said there is a “window of time” to recover California’s most endangered salmon, “but that time is running out.”

CDFW is leveraging funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board. The project is expected to advance state and federal fisheries recovery plans by laying the foundation for reintroducing salmon into the McCloud River and advancing a more resilient and sustainably managed water resources system that can better withstand drought conditions. This project Sid expected to further the goals of California’s Water Resilience Portfolio and CDFW’s State Wildlife Action Plan, as well as address limiting factors specified in state and federal recovery plans.

DFW’s mission is to manage California’s fish, wildlife and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend. DWR’s mission is to sustainably manage the water resources of California, in cooperation with other agencies, to benefit the state’s people and protect, restore and enhance the natural and human environments. NOAA Fisheries is responsible for stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources and their habitat.