Science Spotlight

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  • March 23, 2018

A brownish-green river with a glassy surface flows through semi-arid land as two men fish from the rocky shore
Surveying Ventura River in Ventura County

A person in a black, full-body wetsuit floats, face-down, in a clear, shallow stream lined by forest and riparian vegetation
Snorkel survey in Hollow Tree Creek in Mendocino County

A young steelhead trout is barely visible, camouflaged against greenish-golden rocks in a stream
Hollow Tree Creek steelhead

Taking care of California’s fish and wildlife wouldn’t be possible without managing the resources upon which they depend. To that end, CDFW has an entire branch – and many scientific staff – dedicated to the scientific study, and planning and management of water resources.

Within the Water Branch, CDFW’s Instream Flow Program (IFP) is tasked with collecting and contributing data necessary to make all kinds of important management decisions about ecological function, fish rearing, spawning and migration and habitat suitability.

In the simplest terms, “instream flow” refers to the rate of the water running through a waterway in a natural environment. But when one considers all the interests competing for use of that water – fisherman, boaters, farmers, businesses, water districts, and fish and wildlife themselves – the complexity of the subject is evident.

Measured in cubic feet per second (cfs), instream flow can be measured at different times of the year in a specific location in a waterway. The fluctuations can tell scientists quite a bit about the ecosystem health of a watershed. While some watersheds have flowing water throughout the year and others are intermittent it is often the responsibility of water managers to distribute the water between uses. CDFW, a natural resource management agency, is faced with the complex task of identifying and recommending instream flows necessary for supporting natural resources. Determining instream flows are crucial so that aquatic, riparian, and terrestrial resources dependent on water will be considered and protected during water distribution activities.

Guided by the California Water Action Plan, the Public Resources Code and the Fish and Game Code, IFP staff conduct flow studies, collect field data, develop guidelines for quality assurance, conduct outreach and coordinate with other agencies and interested parties on program-related activities.

In the past year, some of IFP staff’s largest projects have included:

  • A flow study at the South Fork of the Eel Watershed, which supports threatened coho, Chinook and steelhead.
  • A study of 46 coastal steelhead streams (Ventura County to Siskiyou County) to develop flow criteria and evaluate historic flow trends.
  • A flow study to identify flow regimes that will protect endangered Southern California steelhead in the Ventura River.
  • Technical studies and final flow recommendations based upon the needs of South-Central Coast steelhead in Monterey County’s Big Sur River.
  • Ongoing training for IFP staff, to ensure that field studies in swift water are carried out safely.

To learn more about these specific projects, please download the link opens in new windowIFP’s 2017 Year in Review (PDF) document, available on CDFW’s website.

A Featured Scientist Q&A with the IFP manager Robert Holmes is also available on the CDFW Science Institute page.

CDFW photos. Top photo: IFP staff hold a planning meeting prior to a survey on the Ventura River in Ventura County

Categories: General
  • March 20, 2018

A young woman with a rectangular wire cage containing two trapped, brown doves
Two doves in a backyard wire trap

A woman's right hand holds a dove's right wing outstretched
A bander holds out a dove’s wing to see which feather has most recently molted, which will provide information about the age of the bird.

A brown and gray dove with a silver band on its leg is held outdoors in a woman's hand
A volunteer trapper prepares to release a banded female.

If you have an interest in migratory upland birds – as a hunter, a birdwatcher or just a citizen scientist – there’s a unique volunteer opportunity coming up that will allow you to work hands-on with wildlife, while helping the California Department of Fish and Wildlife collect critical research data that will become part of a national database.

Approved volunteers will be specifically trained over the next few months and permitted to capture mourning doves for a seven-week period, from July 1 through August 20, 2018. Banders attach a metal leg band to each bird, determine the bird’s age and sex , and record the data before releasing the bird. Banders can choose their own trapping sites, which in many cases are on their own property.

CDFW is particularly in need of volunteers in North Coast and Bishop areas, but as this is a statewide program, volunteers from other areas may be able to participate as well.

“It’s a unique opportunity for wildlife enthusiasts to get hands-on experience and play an important role in the management of California’s number one game bird,” explains Karen Fothergill, an environmental scientist and coordinator of CDFW’s Mourning Dove Banding Program.

Several levels of participation are possible, but successful completion of a four-hour training session is mandatory for all participants. Trained volunteers will band in their local areas, ending 10 days prior to the start of the hunting season for mourning doves.

The imprinted bands that are attached to birds’ legs are an important tool used by wildlife managers to help them evaluate mourning dove populations. Band recovery data is incorporated into the US Geological Survey Bird Banding Laboratory database and used by wildlife managers to monitor the status of mourning dove populations.

Together, the volunteer force will band approximately 4,000 mourning doves around the state. This number – which is necessary for accurate population modeling – has only been achieved with the use of volunteers.

Volunteer training opportunities will be held around the state, depending on how many potential volunteers show interest in participating, and where those individuals are located. Fothergill said that she expects to hold at least four training opportunities in the month of May. For scheduling purposes, potential volunteers are asked to contact Fothergill no later than April 13.

Volunteers are not compensated, but all supplies will be loaned at no charge.

Program participants must be over 18 and have good organizational skills and a commitment to wildlife preservation. The trapping and banding work is typically done in the morning and evening, but volunteers who can only work limited hours or on certain days can still be utilized and are welcome. For more detailed information about the program or to reserve a space at a training session, please contact Karen Fothergill at (916) 716-1461 or Karen.Fothergill@wildlife.ca.gov.

CDFW photos.
Top Photo: Mourning dove (Zenaida macroura)

Categories: General
  • March 9, 2018

map of Battle Creek watershed area

Habitat is the key to the long-term survival of Sacramento River winter-run Chinook in California. Since 1999, CDFW has been working with multiple agencies and private parties on planning efforts to restore the population of these endangered salmon. More than $100 million has been allocated to specific habitat restoration work on Battle Creek, which comprises approximately 48 miles of prime salmon and steelhead habitat.

Over the next two months, link opens in new windowapproximately 200,000 juvenile winter-run Chinook will be released into the North Fork of Battle Creek. The introduction of these fish, which were spawned from adults last summer, is occurring sooner than expected due the availability of fish from the Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery Winter-run Chinook Captive Broodstock Program. The fish were raised at Coleman National Fish Hatchery and are being released by Coleman Hatchery personnel. These additional fish could help bolster the winter-run Chinook population and be a potential catalyst in their recovery.

CDFW Senior Environmental Scientist Doug Killam has worked on the Battle Creek Reintroduction Plan for nearly a decade and has been instrumental in moving in-stream projects forward. Killam sees the release of 200,000 smolts as an important step in the overall effort. The release will reestablish winter-run Chinook in a new drainage and create a separate new population. Currently there is only one viable population existing in the Sacramento River directly below Keswick and Shasta Dams. The recent drought affected the volume of the critical cold-water pool in Shasta Lake and the release of warmer water in the drought years of 2014 and 2015 resulted in major losses to eggs and young salmon below the dam. Biologists have long recognized that having more than one winter-run Chinook population is imperative for the long-term survival of the species.

A volcanic region with rugged canyons and dramatic scenery, the North Fork of Battle Creek is unique since it has both cold snowmelt water and large amounts of spring water flowing into it at critical times for winter-run salmon to hold over in and spawn in. It is also one of a handful of waters that can support all four of the Chinook salmon runs that return to the Sacramento River Basin. Hydroelectric development of the creek in the early 1900s largely eliminated winter-run Chinook and other salmonid runs from swimming far upstream to access the cooler water required for these unique summer spawning salmon. Recent efforts to bring the fish back to the North Fork include dam removals, rock fall removal, new fish ladders and fish screens and – most importantly – an agreement to increase stream flows to provide fish with the water quantity and quality they need to survive and thrive in this important keystone stream.

CDFW photo by Heather McIntire. Map by CDFW Fisheries Branch.

Categories: General
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