Creating Rearing Opportunities
Too much or too little debris in the river can alter migration patterns for fish in a negative way. In some areas, less debris makes its way into the river because of dams and development of cities along the banks – which means there are fewer trees, rocks and other natural shelters for fish to stop under during their migration journeys. Conversely, there are times when too much sediment has built-up in a side channel and rearing opportunities dwindle. This leads to fish migrating downstream sooner than they historically left the upper areas of the river, where the water is colder.
These projects outline opportunities to reintroduce needed structures and side channels to offer habitat fish have historically relied on.
Winter 2023
Salmon Refugia Project – “Rockwads”
Chances of survival may improve for young salmon and trout thanks to an innovative effort to place 20 structures – ‘rockwads’ – made of almond and manzanita trees and large boulders into the Sacramento River to create critical rearing habitat. The ‘rockwad’ structures are intended to help provide juvenile salmon and trout refuge against larger predators, while enticing them to stay in colder waters longer, thus increasing their odds of healthy maturation for their journey to the Pacific Ocean.
Summer 2022
Gravel Bar Project
SRSC member, GCID, is coordinating with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to remove a mid-channel gravel bar on the Sacramento River downstream of the gradient facility. The project is a component of the gradient facility repair that was part of a settlement with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Work concluded in October 2022.
North Cypress Bridge
To address all stages of the fish life cycle on the Sacramento River, Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District collaborated with local, state and federal agencies on a project to restore side channel rearing habitat in the Sacramento River. The project created about 1 ½ acres of new aquatic habitat immediately upstream of the Cypress Avenue Bridge on the east side of the river, in Redding.
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“This project is another example of the important work being made possible by collaborative partnerships in the Sacramento Valley. Working together we are completing projects up and down the Sacramento River that address all stages of the fish life cycle, helping to improve their chances of survival.”
In total, over 15,500 tons of rock, sand and cobble were removed from the channels, 282 small cottonwood and willow trees were planted, and 1.5 acres of land were hydroseeded. The total cost of the project is estimated to be about $400,000.
South Cypress Island Side Channel
The South Cypress Island Side Channel Restoration Project provided 4.8 acres of new and improved spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead in the Sacramento River, including the endangered winter-run Chinook salmon, by connecting existing ponds and low-lying areas within Henderson Open Space to create a continuously flowing cold-water side channel. The work occurred along the Sacramento River immediately downstream of the Cypress Street Bridge in Redding.
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“This project is kind of a home makeover for Sacramento River’s Chinook Salmon,” said John Hannon, Fish Biologist with the Bureau of Reclamation. “We constructed the side channel for juvenile fish so they will have a place to grow, feed and be safe from predators before they head down the river to the ocean.”
Project funding was provided through the Central Valley Project Improvement Act Restoration Fund, co-managed by Reclamation and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The SRSC, through a grant program with Reclamation, are investing in a new series of salmon recovery projects on the Sacramento River with GCID and RD 108 jointly managing $20 million to implement 10 to 12 projects over the next five years.