CDFW Newshttps://wildlife.ca.gov/NewsTesting Underway for Pilot Project to Return Endangered Salmon to Their Historic Habitathttps://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/testing-underway-for-pilot-project-to-return-endangered-salmon-to-their-historic-habitatSalmonFri, 30 Sep 2022 15:55:36 GMTState and federal biologists and engineers, in partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, have begun testing an experimental system in Shasta Reservoir that could help collect young salmon from the McCloud River in future years.<h3 class="h4" style="text-align: center;"><em>Collection System Would Help Restore Salmon Populations in McCloud River Above Shasta Reservoir</em></h3> <p><strong><em>** News Release Issued Jointly by the California Department of Water Resources, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, NOAA Fisheries, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Forest Service and the Bureau of Reclamation **</em></strong></p> <p>State and federal biologists and engineers, in partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, have begun testing an experimental system in Shasta Reservoir that could help collect young salmon from the McCloud River in future years.</p> <p>The <a href="https://water.ca.gov/Programs/Integrated-Regional-Water-Management/Fish-Passage-Improvement-Program/Juvenile-Salmon-Collection-System" target="_blank">Juvenile Salmonid Collection System</a>, a pilot project three years in the making, is part of a long-term effort to help fish better survive California’s hotter, drier future and more extreme droughts. The collection system will float in the McCloud River arm of the reservoir and guide cold water toward a collection point, with this cold water flowing down from the Shasta Trinity National Forest. The initial testing, which will run from September to mid-November, will not involve salmon but will use temperature and hydraulic measurements to assess the operation and performance of the collection system.</p> <p>If successful, the system will be tested in future years with salmon to determine its efficacy and if it can be a critical part of winter-run salmon reintroduction. Biologists expect that juvenile salmon will follow the colder water to that collection point, where they can be retrieved and transported downstream around the dam to continue their migration to the ocean.</p> <p>Recovery plans call for returning endangered Chinook salmon to their original spawning grounds in the cold McCloud River above Shasta Reservoir, where the fish may better survive drought and climate change. Juvenile salmon hatched in the river need to be collected as they migrate downstream but before they enter the reservoir that is home to warmer waters and potential predators.</p> <p>"This is an innovative and important project that comes at a critical time for endangered winter-run Chinook salmon," said Scott Rumsey, Acting Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. "While we will need a few years to move this ahead, we have no time to waste in preparing this native California species for the rising challenges of climate change."</p> <p>Reintroduction efforts strive to reestablish endangered winter-run salmon in colder, high-elevation rivers where they once spawned before reservoirs blocked their migration. This would improve their resilience to a changing climate and could allow for more flexibility in managing water in the Sacramento River.</p> <p>An important component of the project has been the commitment of state, federal, and regional authorities to Tribal engagement. Strategic efforts and planning have been enhanced with the support and commitment to developing a partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe. The participation of the Winnemem Wintu Tribe brings unique perspectives and incorporates Tribal knowledge to the project.</p> <p>"DWR is excited about the strong state, federal, and Tribal partnerships that are beginning to test the Juvenile Salmon Collection System,” said Karla Nemeth, DWR Director. “This team effort is critical in supporting salmon and their adaptation to our climate-driven hotter, drier future.”</p> <p>The testing of the system will require intermittent restricted access for boats in the McCloud Arm of the reservoir. DWR and contractor staff will be on site, and the system may be repositioned as reservoir levels decline in the fall. Rachel Birkey, Forest Supervisor at the Shasta-Trinity National Forest shared that, “we are proud to join in this collective effort and share the ability of the national forest to contribute cold water flowing in the efforts to help safeguard this imperiled species.”</p> <p>"This really is a monumental step for securing a future for this imperiled, iconic California species," said Charlton H. Bonham, Director of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). "This is the first step in creating the infrastructure necessary to connect winter-run Chinook salmon in the Sacramento River with that ideal, cold-water spawning and rearing habitat in the McCloud River. We’re eagerly anticipating the testing of this system."</p> <p>The testing of the collection system is a separate effort from the transfer of about 40,000 winter-run eggs from the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery to the McCloud River, where they incubated throughout the summer. That effort, supported by the Winnemem Wintu Tribe, CDFW, NOAA Fisheries, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), was an urgent response to the severe drought and will improve the salmon’s odds of survival this year.</p> <p>"Returning winter-run Chinook salmon to their original spawning grounds in the McCloud River has always been part of the plan to recover the species, but now climate change is accelerating the urgency of this action," said Paul Souza, Pacific Southwest Regional Director for the USFWS. "We are grateful to have dedicated partners standing with us to test out this innovative technology and help this endangered salmon survive."</p> <p>"Winter-run Chinook salmon are an important species for the Central Valley Project, and we carefully manage water temperatures to protect the last naturally-spawning population below Keswick Dam on the Sacramento River," said Ernest Conant, director of the Bureau of Reclamation’s California-Great Basin Region. "We have been able to support population resiliency and this reintroduction effort through our funding of the operation of the Livingston-Stone National Fish Hatchery and in the Battle Creek Restoration Program. We look forward to the day NOAA Fisheries can add a McCloud River population to those on the Sacramento River."</p> <p><strong><em>Photo courtesy of the California Department of Water Resources.</em></strong></p> <p><em>###</em></p> <p><em><strong>Media Contact;</strong><br /> <a href="mailto:Peter.Tira@wildlife.ca.gov">Peter Tira</a>, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858</em></p> Partners Return Winter-Run Chinook Salmon Eggs to McCloud River: Drought Action Moves Endangered Salmon Back into Their Historical Habitat for First Time Since Construction of Shasta Damhttps://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/partners-return-winter-run-chinook-salmon-eggs-to-mccloud-riverScientific StudyTue, 12 Jul 2022 17:02:29 GMTThe Winnemem Wintu Tribe, CDFW, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) celebrated the return of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.<p>The Winnemem Wintu Tribe, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Monday celebrated the return of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.</p> <p>The partners collected approximately 20,000 fertilized winter-run Chinook salmon eggs from USFWS’ Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery near Redding and drove them more than three hours over 80 miles to the Ah-Di-Na Campground within the Shasta-Trinity National Forest on the banks of the McCloud River. The eggs were placed into specialized incubators alongside the McCloud River’s cold waters where the species once spawned. Another 20,000 eggs will be transferred to the incubators in the McCloud River in early August. Both cohorts will be released into the river as fry.</p> <p>The historic return of winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the mountains upstream of Shasta Reservoir is in urgent response to reduce the extinction risk during a third year of severe drought. It is not a species reintroduction program. The drought action, however, is expected to inform future long-term recovery and reintroduction efforts as biologists learn how the species uses its historical habitat. Once the eggs hatch later this summer, salmon fry will swim into the McCloud River for the first time since construction of Shasta Dam in the 1940s blocked the migration of adult salmon back to these same mountain waters. Rotary screw traps in the river will collect the salmon fry, which will then be transported downstream of Shasta Dam and released to the Sacramento River to migrate to the Pacific Ocean.</p> <p>The return of winter-run Chinook salmon eggs to the McCloud River was accompanied by a tribal celebration by the Winnemem Wintu, which has long advocated for the return of salmon to their ancestral homeland. Staff from CDFW and tribal representatives will camp alongside the incubators and monitor the eggs and the young salmon as they develop and disperse into the river over the next few months.</p> <p>“We are asking that the river receive these eggs. We are asking that the old-time ways continue and that they grow in that way,” said Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk in explaining the native words, songs and ceremony immediately preceding the eggs’ return to the McCloud River. “We put down that song so they have a fighting chance.”</p> <p>CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham said, “While we have carried out a number of different actions to see this iconic species through another year of drought, there’s no denying that Monday’s work just feels huge. It’s historic and healing and incredibly hopeful for the future. We are so grateful for the wisdom and guidance the Winnemem Wintu Tribe provided about their ancestral lands and waters, which helped shape this effort. We’re proud to help deliver these eggs and this species home to the McCloud River.”</p> <p>Scott Rumsey, acting regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region, said, “Given the drought and the harsh reality of climate change, these endangered fish face the longest odds they ever have. The Winnemem Wintu Tribe has long sought to return them to the McCloud. This crucial collaboration with the tribe, state, and other agencies, now reflects more support for the species than ever before and is finally taking an important step toward making that happen."</p> <p>Paul Souza, regional director of the USFWS’ Pacific Southwest Region, said, “We know the impacts of drought can have devastating impacts on some of our most precious aquatic species, but it is heartening to know that when we come together with our partners, we are capable of quickly accomplishing lifesaving measures like this for winter-run Chinook. We are proud to work with such dedicated federal, state and tribal partners to help safeguard this endangered fish against drought through the implementation of creative solutions.”</p> <p><em><strong>Media Contact:</strong><br /> <a href="mailto:Peter.Tira@wildlife.ca.gov">Peter Tira</a>, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858</em></p> <p><em><strong>Photo Information:</strong> Winnemem Wintu Chief and Spiritual Leader Caleen Sisk is joined by CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Matt Johnson and Taylor Lipscomb from the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery on the shores of the McCloud River as winter-run Chinook salmon eggs are returned for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.</em></p> <p><em><strong>Photo Credit:</strong> Brandon S. Honig, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</em></p> Pilot Project to Return Salmon to Their Historical Habitat above Shasta Dam Receives Initial Fundinghttps://wildlife.ca.gov/News/Archive/pilot-project-to-return-salmon-to-their-historical-habitat-above-shasta-dam-receives-initial-fundingScientific StudyThu, 10 Feb 2022 16:34:24 GMTCDFW today announced that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will receive $1.5 million in funding for the Juvenile Salmonid Collection System Pilot Project in the McCloud Arm of Shasta reservoir.<p>The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) today announced that the Department of Water Resources (DWR) will receive $1.5 million in funding for the Juvenile Salmonid Collection System Pilot Project in the McCloud Arm of Shasta reservoir. This project is the first test of 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.</p> <p>“The time for action is now; winter-run Chinook salmon need access to their historical spawning habitat,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “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. We acknowledge and thank DWR for their initiative on this project. It would not have been possible without DWR’s leadership.”</p> <p>The pilot project is designed to solve what may be the biggest challenge in reintroducing winter-run Chinook salmon to the cold McCloud River. Biologists and engineers need to collect juvenile salmon once they hatch in the river but before they swim into Shasta reservoir, where they are at risk of predators and other threats. The collection system just downstream from where the river enters the reservoir would funnel colder water – and the young fish -- to a collection point. The fish would then be transported around Shasta Dam and released into the Sacramento River to continue their migration to the ocean.</p> <p>CDFW is leveraging funding from the Wildlife Conservation Board to reduce the impacts of drought on fish and wildlife. The grant awarded to DWR totals $1.5 million for this first year of testing the collection system.</p> <p>“DWR is thankful for this funding and the ongoing coordination with our partners that will allow this important work to continue,” said DWR Director Karla Nemeth. “Drought and climate change have exacerbated the challenges posed to Californians, as well as our ecosystems and native species. This pilot project is just one of many efforts being implemented to address these challenges head on as we navigate unprecedented dry conditions.”</p> <p>The collection system consists of a debris boom, guidance net, fish trap and temperature curtain, which will be tested in the McCloud Arm of Shasta reservoir from mid-September to mid-November, after recreational activities wind down for the season. Biologists and engineers from DWR, CDFW and NOAA Fisheries will test the collection system but will not yet release winter-run Chinook salmon into Shasta reservoir yet -- this will occur once the collector is fully tested and its operation is successful.</p> <p><span style="color:#333333"></span>“We have a window of time to recover California’s most endangered salmon, but that time is running out,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator of NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region. “Saving these native fish will take science, ingenuity and lots of collaboration by all of us who want to see winter-run Chinook swim in their original habitat once again.”</p> <p>In the 1940s, construction of Shasta and Keswick dams blocked winter-run Chinook salmon from reaching their original 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. Water managers release water from Shasta reservoir to lower river temperatures to improve survival of the eggs of this single remaining population. Drought and climate change will make that increasingly difficult and ultimately impossible.</p> <p>This project will further state and federal fisheries recovery plans by laying the foundation for reintroduction of salmon into the McCloud River and advancing a more resilient and sustainably managed water resources system that can better withstand drought conditions. This project furthers the goals of California’s Water Resilience Portfolio and CDFW’s State Wildlife Action Plan, as well as addressing limiting factors specified in state and federal recovery plans.</p> <p>###</p> <p><em><strong>Media Contacts:</strong><br /> <a href="mailto:jordan.traverso@wildlife.ca.gov">Jordan Traverso</a>, CDFW Communications, (916) 212-7352<br /> <a href="mailto:akiela.moses@water.ca.gov">Akiela Moses</a>, DWR Public Affairs Office, (916) 820-7669<br /> <a href="mailto:michael.milstein@noaa.gov">Michael Milstein</a>, NOAA Fisheries, (971) 313-1466</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>The Mission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values, and for their use and enjoyment by the public.</em></p> <p> </p> <p><em>The Department of Water Resources’ 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. For more information, follow us on <a href="https://twitter.com/CA_DWR" target="_blank">Twitter</a> or <a href="https://www.facebook.com/CADWR/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> and read our <a href="https://water.ca.gov/News/News-Releases" target="_blank">news releases</a> and <a href="https://water.ca.gov/News/Blog" target="_blank">DWR updates</a>.</em></p> <p><em>NOAA Fisheries is responsible for the stewardship of the nation’s ocean resources and their habitat. We provide vital services for the nation, all backed by sound science and an ecosystem-based approach to management.</em></p>