A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
September 27, 2007
3. Watersheds
ALAMAEDA CREEK RESTORATION:
Fish ladder to help trout spawn; Project aims to reduce obstacles along Alameda Creek that are impeding steelhead's instincts - Contra Costa Times
Alameda Creek plan moves forward to revive steelhead-trout runs -
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ALAMAEDA CREEK RESTORATION:
Fish ladder to help trout spawn; Project aims to reduce obstacles along Alameda Creek that are impeding steelhead's instincts
Contra Costa Times – 9/27/07
By Matthew Artz, staff writer
Alameda Creek was once prime habitat for steelhead trout, but nowadays it's emblematic of why the fish is on the federal threatened species list. Instinct leads adult steelhead to swim upstream and spawn, but a 9-foot cement barrier on Alameda Creek near
And for those that get across and reproduce, their offspring often get trapped in quarry ponds, where they can't survive. The creek is so inhospitable for the trout -- as well as some species of salmon -- that authorities sometimes have to trap them in nets and truck them past the barrier to help them spawn.
But those days may be drawing to a close. Last summer, the Alameda County Flood Control District and the Alameda County Water District initiated a multimillion-dollar project to return steelhead and salmon to Alameda Creek by 2010. The plan includes a fish ladder to help the adult fish get around the cement wall and a nearby inflatable dam as well as screens to prevent their offspring from getting diverted into quarry ponds.
Work already has begun on one of the fish screens at a water district diversion pipeline just south of
Restoring fish to creeks typically improves water quality, Miller added. Steelhead and salmon live most of their adult lives in the ocean, but migrate up freshwater streams and rivers to spawn and rear their young. Until about a half-century ago, the 633-square-mile Alameda Creek watershed supported large populations of the fish that, while young, thrive in waterways full of gravel, aquatic insects and overhanging vegetation.
But after several floods in the 1950s, Miller said, the Army Corps of Engineers built a flood control channel and several dams in the watershed. The 9-foot concrete wall was built to stabilize nearby railroad footings, said Emmanuel Da Costa of the flood control district. The obstacles haven't prevented the fish from trying to swim up the creek so much as they have greatly decreased their odds of succeeding.
To help the fish spawn, the flood control district started a rescue program seven years ago for steelhead and salmon trapped at the concrete wall in
The proposed fish ladder is really a series of cement step pools enabling the fish to jump from pool to pool and around the concrete barrier and nearby inflatable dam. Design work on the ladder is under way, Da Costa said, and the flood control district is applying for funding to build it.
The water district already has received a $500,000 grant to complete the fish screen near
Additional fish screens are planned for the creek, said Miller, who estimated that the entire project would cost as much as $3 million.
As the project draws to a close, the creek alliance, a 1,450-member nonprofit, plans to restore vegetation to the creek banks, Miller said. But there still will be several dams upstream continuing to block some of the best fish habitat.
"We can't restore what was once there, but we can try to improve it the best we can," Miller said. #
Alameda Creek plan moves forward to revive steelhead-trout runs
San Francisco Chronicle – 9/27/07
By Tom Stienstra, staff writer
Five stream restoration projects have won approval to help bring back steelhead, the sea-run rainbow trout, to 20 miles of Alameda Creek. If it works, steelhead would return to Alameda Creek and their spawning areas for the first time in more than 50 years.
Alameda Creek starts as a trickle in the Sunol Regional Wilderness in remote northeastern
Alameda Creek is one of several streams that feed the bay that once attracted steelhead. Those runs evaporated because of many reasons, including concrete channels, dams, diversions or pollution in runoff.
A key to bringing back the steelhead, according to Jeff Miller of the Alameda Creek Alliance, is removing obstructions and providing fish ladders to allow the adult steelhead upstream passage to spawning areas and the smolts downstream passage to nursery areas.
That is because steelhead spawn in streams and the newborn hatchlings and smolts spend their first months in downstream "nursery" areas. In their life cycle, they migrate through the bay to the ocean as adults, where they commonly reach 8 to 15 pounds before returning to the river in winter to spawn, often in three- and four-year cycles.
The primary players in the latest restoration efforts are the Alameda County Flood Control District and Alameda County Water District. The projects:
-- Screen, Part 1: A $500,000 fish screen is being installed at a water diversion below
-- Screens, Part 2: A $600,000 grant from state Proposition 50 funds will pay for additional fish screens downstream of a diversion at Bunting Pond. This is where downstream migrating smolts can be trapped in pipes and sent to
-- Ladder: A fish ladder will be built that allows steelhead to pass over a cement barrier known as the BART weir. It is in a flood control channel and is one of the main obstructions to fish passage. Construction is projected to be completed by 2010.
-- Eliminate dam and diversion: The rubber inflatable dam on lower Alameda Creek will be removed next year and an adjacent unscreened diversion will be discontinued, an expense of $500,000 covered by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
-- Remove blockage: Earlier this month, a concrete crossing and fish barrier was removed from a feeder stream, Arroyo Mocho.
A year ago, the Sunol Dam was removed as part of the stream restoration project. #
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/27/SP4BSD9R0.DTL&hw=water&sn=008&sc=305
CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT:
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The North Coast IRWMP places a strong emphasis on the integration between water quality, water supply and watershed vitality – including habitat conservation and restoration. The conference is an excellent opportunity for networking with your peers, and will provide critical information about innovative approaches and techniques for planning, as well as available funding. Please register early, as space is limited! #
http://www.northcoastirwmp.net/Content/10326/North_Coast_Conference.html
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