Cosumnes River Salmon Passage
Granlees Dam and four flashboard dams along the Lower Cosumnes River have impeded the passage of upstream migrating Chinook salmon. In 1998 the FFC began a program to develop and impement fish passage solutions to each of these sites. To date the FFC has completely rebuilt the south ladder at Granlees Dam, constructed a box culvert at a low flow crossing, and improved passage at three flashboard dam foundations by manipulating the rip rap approach and installing concrete curbs to focus the flows at the structures. The FFC currently has funds to install a boulder weir at the remaining flashboard dam and to rebuild the north ladder at Granlees Dam in the summer of 2010. These actions will eliminate the remaining barriers on the Cosumnes River.
Granless Dam Fish Ladder Reconstruction
Granlees Dam (RM 34.5) is operated by Rancho Murieta Community Service District (RMCSD) to supply water to the surrounding community. The dam has two fish ladders, one in each channel. The South ladder was completely rebuilt by the FFC in the summer of 2002 and passes fish effectively at all flows. Passage at the North ladder was observed to be problematic in recent surveys due to excessive jump heights and insufficient energy dissipation in the pools. The project goal is to modify the fish ladder at the North Granlees Diversion Dam by extending the ladder to create appropriate jump heights between pools and improve upon the existing hydraulic criteria for fish passage. The ladder requires the proposed modification to pass fish over a wider range of flows to minimize migration delays and stranding. This project will eliminate the last partial barrier to fish passage on the Cosumnes River and will improve access by fall-run Chinook salmon to 7.2 miles of quality spawning habitat upstream of Granlees Dam.
Cosumnes River Spawning Habitat Restoration
The degradation of spawning habitat for fall-run Chinook salmon in the lower Cosumnes river was addressed in this project. Action was taken to improve spawning habitat availability by adding spawning gravel to a select site downstream of Hwy 16. Clean, spawning gravel was added to the river bed along with the adjacent banks to improve spawning conditions and to stabilize the eroding banks. The FFC compared pre- and post-studies to confirm the success of the gravel introduction with respect to changes in fish use, spawning habitat suitability, and movement of gravel following its placement.
Stanislaus Habitat Use Pilot Investigation
The FFC, in cooperation with the US Bureau of Reclamation is conducting a pilot study to document the change in habitat and fish distributions relative to discharge. The FFC, Wildlands, and the Institute for Natural Systems Engineering will team to implement the Stanislaus River Salmonid Habitat Use Investigation. The purpose of the study be to determine fish and fish habitat response to different operational flows from Goodwin Dam into the lower Stanislaus River. The objectives of the project are to conduct a preliminary investigation to test survey methods, validate the data analysis approach, and define how best to expand the effort to the entire Stanislaus River between Goodwin Dam and the confluence with the San Joaquin River.
Lower Calaveras River Anadromous Fish Barrier Removal Project
This project is funded through the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS )Anadromous Fish Restoration Program and is one example of how FFC effectively partner s with a consortium of public and private interests. Partners on this project include Stockton East Water District (SEWD); California Department of Water resources (DWR); Department of Fish and Game (CDFG); USFWS; NOAA Fisheries; United States Army Core of Engineers (USACE); and University of the Pacific Biological Sciences Department.
The Lower Calaveras River has been designated critical habitat for threatened Central Valley Steelhead and essential habitat for species of concern Fall-Run Chinook. Fish passage has been identified as a primary limiting factor for salmon and steelhead in the Calaveras River and population numbers are expected to increase once passage opportunities are improved. The LCR Anadromous Fish Barrier Removal Project’s goal is to replace or retrofit up to four migration barriers between river mile 6.5 and 18.7 which will increase opportunities for salmon and steelhead to access the quality spawning and rearing habitat located above river mile 24. Budeselich flashboard dam is the most downstream of the four structures is the first to be modified for improved fish passage. The structure will be retrofitted with a series of boulder weirs to increase depths over the dam and overcome the steep channel slope. As funding becomes available the partners will continue to address the remaining barriers to fish passage in the LCR.
Net Pen Acclimation
For over a decade the Fishery Foundation has received Chinook smolts from state hatcheries. Juvenile salmon are transported from the hatcheries by truck and released into the San Pablo Bay near Vallejo. The FFC recieves these smolts and holds them in mobile net pens allowing them to acclimate before releasing them into the warmer, open bay water. Studies have shown this acclimation period successfully increases the smolt's survival rates by limiting their exposure to avian and aquatic predators during the acclimation period. The program is perfomed with a supporting grant from the Bay-Delta Sportfishing Enhancement Stamp.