Due to the construction of Warm Springs Dam, the United States Army Corp of Engineers (USACE) constructed Warm Springs Hatchery to compensate for the spawning and nursery grounds that were lost to salmon and steelhead returning to their home streams.
The hatchery was completed in January of 1981, but operation of the hatchery began in October 1980 and the facility received its first adult steelhead on December 22, 1980. The original hatchery facility included 8 fish rearing ponds, a fish ladder, spawning area, adult holding ponds, incubator stacks and start tanks. In 1990, the hatchery expanded to include 12 new fish rearing ponds, new start tanks and incubator stacks. These improvements were needed to accommodate the rearing of eggs and fish from our satellite facility, Coyote Valley Fish Facility located at Coyote Dam, Lake Mendocino, Ukiah, California. Warm Springs Hatchery and Coyote Valley Fish Facility are 100% funded by the USACE and maintained and operated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In the early 2000's coho salmon were imperiled in the Russian River drainage. Warm Springs Hatchery initiated a conservation program to prevent this species from going extinct.