California’s two primary salmon species, Coho and Chinook, have
experienced significant declines from historical populations.
Of particular importance is the Chinook salmon because the
species supports commercial fishing and related jobs and economic
activities at fish hatcheries.
The decline in salmon numbers is attributed to a variety of
manmade and natural factors including drought, habitat
destruction, water diversions, migratory obstacles created by
local, state and federal water projects, over-fishing,
unfavorable ocean conditions, pollution and introduced predator
species. Wetlands have also been drained and diked; dams have
blocked salmon from reaching historic spawning grounds.
Years of declining populations represent a significant economic
loss and have led to federally mandated salmon restoration plans
that complicate water diversions and conveyance for agriculture
and other uses.
On Monday, AB 263 passed the state Legislature. The bill
protects salmon populations in two key tributaries of the
Klamath River watershed by keeping minimum flow requirements in
place until the State Water Board can establish new long-term
flow regulations. The bill is now headed to Governor’s desk for
his signature. … The bill would maintain river flows for
at-risk salmon runs on two critical Klamath River tributaries –
the Scott and Shasta Rivers.
After a spectacular two-day salmon season in the San
Francisco/Half Moon Bay area in June, a second window with a
7500-fish quota opened from September 4-7 from Point Reyes
south to Point Sur with similar incredible fishing. … The
Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA), a major force in the
restoration of California’s salmon populations, viewed the
short season as “A welcome glimmer of hope – albeit
briefly,” adding … “Salmon populations remain
dangerously low. … While recreational anglers prepare their
gear, California’s commercial salmon fleet faces a third
consecutive year of closure.”
… NAU [Northern Arizona University] and University of
California Berkeley scientists working along the region’s Eel
River have discovered a micro-scale nutrient factory that keeps
rivers healthy and allows salmon to thrive. The scientists’ new
study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
reveals how a partnership between algae and bacteria works like
nature’s clean-nitrogen machine, turning nitrogen from the air
into food that fuels river ecosystems without fertilizers or
pollution. The hidden nutrient factory boosts populations of
aquatic insects, which young salmon rely on for growth and
survival.
… It is a bit uncanny the extent to which the plot of The
Lorax mirrors the experience of California fishes. As mentioned
often on this blog, at least 83% of our fishes face extinction
if present trends continue (Moyle et al. 2011). These numbers
are sadly increasing further, especially since the 1970s, a
time frame over which the human population of the state
effectively doubled (Fig. 3). … I believe Peter [Moyle]
and I share a realistic view concerning possible solutions to
these problems. … Broadly, this kind of work represents an
arm of environmental science known as ‘reconciliation ecology’.
The California Department of Water Resources has been using a
fish monitoring station in the Feather River to track the
migration of fish species. Officials say this station is
crucial for monitoring Chinook salmon and steelhead
populations, which are listed as threatened under the
Endangered Species Act. … The station uses an underwater
camera with motion detection software to capture video of fish
as they pass through a chute. This footage helps scientists
identify fish species and determine if they are of hatchery
origin by checking for a clipped adipose fin.
Money raised from California’s cannabis industry is being
channelled into saving endangered Coho salmon in Santa Cruz
County. The state’s Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has
awarded more than $3.9 million from its Cannabis Restoration
Grant Program to the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project
(MBSTP), supporting operations at the Kingfisher Flat
Conservation Hatchery. The programme, funded by cannabis tax
revenues and penalties from unlicensed cultivation, was created
to repair environmental damage linked to the industry. This is
the first time it has supported Coho salmon conservation south
of San Francisco Bay.
Things are starting to look pretty good as the salmon season
ramps up with decent numbers now being reported on the Feather
River from Yuba City to the Outlet Hole. There are still some
slow days, but the guides are reporting an increasing number of
limits, private anglers are posting some pretty fish and bank
anglers are posting some equally impressive catches. There are
still two months of fishing in the upper zone and by
mid-September, there should be plenty of fish in the system.
The Department of Water Resources announced Monday its fish
monitoring station at the Feather River Fish Hatchery,
installed July 2023 about 6.5 miles from the hatchery, has
helped reduce staff hours spent conducting carcass surveys by
three-quarters — and, best of all, the counts of spring-run
salmon are up. The monitoring station is said to be a valuable
tool for scientists counting Chinook salmon and steelhead trout
populations in the Feather River; it uses an underwater camera
to track arrival timing, number, species and origin of
returning fish — whether natural or hatchery raised, according
to the release.
For the first time in three years, anglers have been able to
fish sections of the Feather River, American River and
Mokelumne River for salmon. Since the opener on July 16, the
fishing has been productive but by no means hot on the Feather
River. But for anglers unable to fish for salmon in all Central
Valley streams since 2022, the fishing has drawn many to the
riverbanks near Oroville to catch a big, bright Chinook.
Recently, low counts have resulted in the continued closure of
Chinook salmon fishing in the Klamath River Basin and mainstem
Sacramento River by the California Department of Fish and
Wildlife.
… As research assistants in a nationwide study — created in
collaboration with experts from the UC Davis School of
Education and Center for Watershed Sciences — high schoolers
worked with scholars from 2020 to 2025 to collect the data
needed to determine the cause of rising TDC [Thiamine
Deficiency Complex] rates. Together, they monitored hundreds of
spawning salmon for early signs of thiamine deficiency, most
notably, swimming in spinning patterns. Researchers published
the final study in July 2025, identifying anchovy-dominated
diets as the cause of TDC. With a recent and ongoing
decline in oceanic biodiversity, salmon are primarily consuming
anchovies.
The Yurok Tribe is inviting the community to celebrate the
Klamath River’s renewal at the 61st annual Klamath Salmon
Festival on Saturday, August 16. The tribe said this year’s
theme is “Celebrating the Spectacular Start of the Klamath
River’s Renewal,” highlighting the river’s remarkable recovery
following the removal of the last of four dams in August 2024.
… Despite the festival’s name, the tribe said no salmon
will be served this year due to a below-average fish forecast.
However, the tribe remains optimistic about the future of the
Klamath’s salmon runs, citing ongoing large-scale river
restoration projects throughout the basin.
A federal judge awarded Friends of the River nearly
half-a-million dollars in attorneys’ fees Friday after the
conservation group prevailed in a Freedom of Information Act
dispute that had dragged on for nine years. The award —
$491,676 in attorneys’ fees and $2,548 in costs — was less than
what the organization asked for but nearly twice what the Army
Corps of Engineers had proposed paying. The Corps was on the
hook for at least some of the litigation costs after losing a
FOIA lawsuit related to endangered species and dams on
California’s Yuba River.
… Yellow-legged frogs were once one of the most abundant
animals in the alpine habitats of the Sierra Nevada. But for
the past decade, the Oakland Zoo has been raising individuals
from the now-endangered species and releasing them to the wild
as a way to boost their numbers in the aftermath of a deadly
disease that has decimated 90% of their population. Known as
chytridiomycosis, or the chytrid fungus, the disease leads to
“devastating effects” and has contributed to the greatest loss
of biodiversity ever caused by a pathogen. … After
getting swabbed for the disease one last time, they were
transported to their final destination: Laurel Lake at Sequoia
and Kings National Park.
A new study links widespread deficiency of vitamin B1, or
thiamine, among California Chinook salmon to their deaths. This
adds yet another challenge for this iconic species whose
population is already imperiled by climate change, habitat loss
and overfishing. … Researchers began to suspect an
anchovy-heavy diet was to blame when they examined the guts of
ocean-caught Chinook salmon from 2020-22. They found anchovies
almost exclusively, suggesting the thiamine deficiency in
salmon likely stems from eating too many anchovies. …
Treating every spawning salmon with thiamine is logistically
impossible, [NOAA scientist Nate] Mantua said, but we can
support them in other ways, like removing dams and reducing
fishing pressure on other important forage species including
herring and squid.
… The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is an epicenter of
California’s bitter water wars, supplying water to fish,
farmers and semi-arid Southern California. Stakeholders —
fishermen, farmers, water managers, researchers, agencies —
often find themselves at odds with one another, in need of a
living and quick to fight. But recent fish and water crises
have challenged these groups to set aside their competing
interests. California’s commercial salmon fishing ban and
drought-induced water curtailment to agriculture have rallied
an unlikely coalition of fishermen, farmers and water managers
hoping to find solutions.
Explore the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended
Alternative 3 – Salmon Closure during the final days of the
Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) meeting mirroring
the opinions of commercial and recreational charter boat
anglers. The department’s position is a significant change from
early March. The PFMC meetings are being held in Seattle from
April 6 to 11, and the final recommendations of the council
will be forwarded to the California Fish and Game Commission in
May.
Partners have pulled together to support the recovery of
endangered Sacramento winter-run Chinook salmon in the last few
years. However, the species still faces threats from climate
change and other factors. That is the conclusion of an
Endangered Species Act review that NOAA Fisheries completed for
the native California species. It once returned in great
numbers to the tributaries of the Sacramento River and
supported local tribes. The review concluded that the species
remains endangered, and identified key recovery actions to help
the species survive climate change. While partners have taken
steps to protect winter-run Chinook salmon, blocked habitat,
altered flows, and higher temperatures continue to threaten
their survival.
…Tuesday, the State Water Resources Control Board took
action to protect the salmon,
unanimously extending the region’s
expired emergency drought measures. Ground and surface
water for farms will be restricted for another year if flows in
the Shasta and Scott rivers dip below minimum thresholds. State
officials say these measures are likely to kick in next
year. Water board chair Joaquin Esquivel said action
is needed because “a fish emergency” remains on the rivers.
“Time isn’t our friend,” he said at a previous meeting in
August. “There is an urgency.” The water board also
is investigating the possibility of permanent requirements to
keep more water in the rivers, after the Karuk Tribe and the
fishing industry petitioned the state for stronger protections.
That decision, however, could take years.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
The Klamath River Basin was once one
of the world’s most ecologically magnificent regions, a watershed
teeming with salmon, migratory birds and wildlife that thrived
alongside Native American communities. The river flowed rapidly
from its headwaters in southern Oregon’s high deserts into Upper
Klamath Lake, collected snowmelt along a narrow gorge through the
Cascades, then raced downhill to the California coast in a misty,
redwood-lined finish.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape while learning about the issues
associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
Water Education Foundation
2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 205
Sacramento, CA 95833
This tour ventured through California’s Central Valley, known as the nation’s breadbasket thanks to an imported supply of surface water and local groundwater. Covering about 20,000 square miles through the heart of the state, the valley provides 25 percent of the nation’s food, including 40 percent of all fruits, nuts and vegetables consumed throughout the country.
Land and waterway managers labored
hard over the course of a century to control California’s unruly
rivers by building dams and levees to slow and contain their
water. Now, farmers, environmentalists and agencies are undoing
some of that work as part of an accelerating campaign to restore
the state’s major floodplains.
Biologists have designed a variety
of unique experiments in the past decade to demonstrate the
benefits that floodplains provide for small fish. Tracking
studies have used acoustic tags to show that chinook salmon
smolts with access to inundated fields are more likely than their
river-bound cohorts to reach the Pacific Ocean. This is because
the richness of floodplains offers a vital buffet of nourishment
on which young salmon can capitalize, supercharging their growth
and leading to bigger, stronger smolts.
This tour guided participants on a virtual exploration of the Sacramento River and its tributaries and learn about the issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project.
One of California Gov. Gavin
Newsom’s first actions after taking office was to appoint Wade
Crowfoot as Natural Resources Agency secretary. Then, within
weeks, the governor laid out an ambitious water agenda that
Crowfoot, 45, is now charged with executing.
That agenda includes the governor’s desire for a “fresh approach”
on water, scaling back the conveyance plan in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta and calling for more water recycling, expanded
floodplains in the Central Valley and more groundwater recharge.
The growing leadership of women in water. The Colorado River’s persistent drought and efforts to sign off on a plan to avert worse shortfalls of water from the river. And in California’s Central Valley, promising solutions to vexing water resource challenges.
These were among the topics that Western Water news explored in 2018.
We’re already planning a full slate of stories for 2019. You can sign up here to be alerted when new stories are published. In the meantime, take a look at what we dove into in 2018:
In 1983, a landmark California Supreme Court ruling extended the public trust doctrine to tributary creeks that feed Mono Lake, which is a navigable water body even though the creeks themselves were not. The ruling marked a dramatic shift in water law and forced Los Angeles to cut back its take of water from those creeks in the Eastern Sierra to preserve the lake.
Now, a state appellate court has for the first time extended that same public trust doctrine to groundwater that feeds a navigable river, in this case the Scott River flowing through a picturesque valley of farms and alfalfa in Siskiyou County in the northern reaches of California.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of Oroville Dam spillway
repairs.
An hour’s drive north of Sacramento sits a picture-perfect valley hugging the eastern foothills of Northern California’s Coast Range, with golden hills framing grasslands mostly used for cattle grazing.
Back in the late 1800s, pioneer John Sites built his ranch there and a small township, now gone, bore his name. Today, the community of a handful of families and ranchers still maintains a proud heritage.
Farmers in the Central Valley are broiling about California’s plan to increase flows in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to help struggling salmon runs avoid extinction. But in one corner of the fertile breadbasket, River Garden Farms is taking part in some extraordinary efforts to provide the embattled fish with refuge from predators and enough food to eat.
And while there is no direct benefit to one farm’s voluntary actions, the belief is what’s good for the fish is good for the farmers.
This tour explored the Sacramento River and its tributaries
through a scenic landscape as participants learned about the
issues associated with a key source for the state’s water supply.
All together, the river and its tributaries supply 35 percent of
California’s water and feed into two major projects: the State
Water Project and the federal Central Valley Project. Tour
participants got an on-site update of repair efforts on the
Oroville Dam spillway.
Before dams were built on the upper
Sacramento River, flood water regularly carried woody debris that
was an important part of the aquatic habitat.
Deprived of this refuge, salmon in the lower parts of the upper
Sacramento River have had a difficult time surviving and making
it down the river and out to the ocean. Seeing this, a group of
people, including water users, decided to lend a hand with an
unprecedented pilot project that saw massive walnut tree trunks
affixed to 12,000-pound boulders and deposited into the deepest
part of the Sacramento River near Redding to provide shelter for
young salmon and steelhead migrating downstream.
Protecting and restoring California’s populations of threatened
and endangered Chinook salmon and steelhead trout have been a big
part of the state’s water management picture for more than 20
years. Significant resources have been dedicated to helping the
various runs of the iconic fish, with successes and setbacks. In
a landscape dramatically altered from its natural setting,
finding a balance between the competing demands for water is
challenging.
Butte Creek, a tributary of the
Sacramento River, begins less than 50 miles northeast of Chico,
California and is named after nearby volcanic plateaus or
“buttes.” The cold, clear waters of the 93-mile creek sustain the
largest naturally spawning wild population of spring-run chinook salmon in the Central Valley.
Several other native fish species are found in Butte Creek,
including Pacific lamprey and Sacramento pikeminnow.
20-minute version of the 2012 documentary The Klamath Basin: A
Restoration for the Ages. This DVD is ideal for showing at
community forums and speaking engagements to help the public
understand the complex issues related to complex water management
disputes in the Klamath River Basin. Narrated by actress Frances
Fisher.
For over a century, the Klamath River Basin along the Oregon and
California border has faced complex water management disputes. As
relayed in this 2012, 60-minute public television documentary
narrated by actress Frances Fisher, the water interests range
from the Tribes near the river, to energy producer PacifiCorp,
farmers, municipalities, commercial fishermen, environmentalists
– all bearing legitimate arguments for how to manage the water.
After years of fighting, a groundbreaking compromise may soon
settle the battles with two epic agreements that hold the promise
of peace and fish for the watershed. View an excerpt from the
documentary here.
This 30-minute documentary-style DVD on the history and current
state of the San Joaquin River Restoration Program includes an
overview of the geography and history of the river, historical
and current water delivery and uses, the genesis and timeline of
the 1988 lawsuit, how the settlement was reached and what was
agreed to.
This 25-minute documentary-style DVD, developed in partnership
with the California Department of Water Resources, provides an
excellent overview of climate change and how it is already
affecting California. The DVD also explains what scientists
anticipate in the future related to sea level rise and
precipitation/runoff changes and explores the efforts that are
underway to plan and adapt to climate.
This beautiful 24×36 inch poster, suitable for framing, features
a map of the San Joaquin River. The map text focuses on the San
Joaquin River Restoration Program, which aims to restore flows
and populations of Chinook salmon to the river below Friant Dam
to its confluence with the Merced River. The text discusses the
history of the program, its goals and ongoing challenges with
implementation.
This beautiful 24×36-inch poster, suitable for framing, displays
the rivers, lakes and reservoirs, irrigated farmland, urban areas
and Indian reservations within the Truckee River Basin, including
the Newlands Project, Pyramid Lake and Lake Tahoe. Map text
explains the issues surrounding the use of the Truckee-Carson
rivers, Lake Tahoe water quality improvement efforts, fishery
restoration and the effort to reach compromise solutions to many
of these issues.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the State Water Project provides
an overview of the California-funded and constructed State Water
Project.
The State Water Project is best known for the 444-mile-long
aqueduct that provides water from the Delta to San Joaquin Valley
agriculture and southern California cities. The guide contains
information about the project’s history and facilities.
The Water Education Foundation’s second edition of
the Layperson’s Guide to The Klamath River Basin is
hot off the press and available for purchase.
Updated and redesigned, the easy-to-read overview covers the
history of the region’s tribal, agricultural and environmental
relationships with one of the West’s largest rivers — and a
vast watershed that hosts one of the nation’s oldest and
largest reclamation projects.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to Flood Management explains the
physical flood control system, including levees; discusses
previous flood events (including the 1997 flooding); explores
issues of floodplain management and development; provides an
overview of flood forecasting; and outlines ongoing flood control
projects.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to California Water provides an
excellent overview of the history of water development and use in
California. It includes sections on flood management; the state,
federal and Colorado River delivery systems; Delta issues; water
rights; environmental issues; water quality; and options for
stretching the water supply such as water marketing and
conjunctive use. New in this 10th edition of the guide is a
section on the human need for water.
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Central Valley Project
explores the history and development of the federal Central
Valley Project (CVP), California’s largest surface water delivery
system. In addition to the project’s history, the guide describes
the various facilities, operations and benefits the water
project brings to the state along with the CVP
Improvement Act (CVPIA).
The 24-page Layperson’s Guide to the Delta explores the competing
uses and demands on California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
Included in the guide are sections on the history of the Delta,
its role in the state’s water system, and its many complex issues
with sections on water quality, levees, salinity and agricultural
drainage, fish and wildlife, and water distribution.
The Red Bluff Diversion Dam, its gates raised since 2011 to allow
fish passage, spans the Sacramento River two miles
southeast of Red Bluff on the Sacramento River in Tehama County.
It is owned by the Bureau of Reclamation and operated and
maintained by the Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority.
Pelagic fish are those that live near the water’s surface rather
than on the bottom. In California, pelagic fish species include
the Delta smelt, longfin
smelt, striped bass and salmon.
In California, the fate of pelagic fish has been closely tied to
the use of the water that supports them.
The Klamath River Basin is one of the West’s most important and
contentious watersheds.
The watershed is known for its unusual geography straddling
California and Oregon. Unlike many western rivers, the
Klamath does not originate in snowcapped mountains but rather on
a volcanic plateau.
A broad patchwork of spring-fed streams and rivers in
south-central Oregon drains into Upper Klamath Lake and down into
Lake Ewauna in the city of Klamath Falls. The outflow from Ewauna
marks the beginning of the 263-mile Klamath River.
The Klamath Basin’s Chinook salmon and coho salmon serve a vital
role in the watershed.
Together, they are key to the region’s water management, habitat
restoration and fishing.
However, years of declining population have led to federally
mandated salmon restoration plans—plans that complicate the
diversion of Klamath water for agriculture and other uses.
Battle Creek, a tributary of the
Sacramento River in Shasta and Tehama counties, is considered one
of the most important anadromous fish spawning streams in the
Sacramento Valley.
At present, barriers make it difficult for anadromous fish,
including chinook salmon and Central Valley steelhead trout, to
migrate. Battle Creek has several hydroelectric dams, diversions
and a complex canal system between its north and south forks that
impede migration.
This issue of Western Water looks at the BDCP and the
Coalition to Support Delta Projects, issues that are aimed at
improving the health and safety of the Delta while solidifying
California’s long-term water supply reliability.
This printed issue of Western Water features a
roundtable discussion with Anthony Saracino, a water resources
consultant; Martha Davis, executive manager of policy development
with the Inland Empire Utilities Agency and senior policy advisor
to the Delta Stewardship Council; Stuart Leavenworth, editorial
page editor of The Sacramento Bee and Ellen Hanak, co-director of
research and senior fellow at the Public Policy Institute of
California.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the issues
associated with the State Water Board’s proposed revision of the
water quality Bay-Delta Plan, most notably the question of
whether additional flows are needed for the system, and how they
might be provided.
This printed issue of Western Water examines science –
the answers it can provide to help guide management decisions in
the Delta and the inherent uncertainty it holds that can make
moving forward such a tenuous task.
This printed issue of Western Water examines the Russian and
Santa Ana rivers – areas with ongoing issues not dissimilar to
the rest of the state – managing supplies within a lingering
drought, improving water quality and revitalizing and restoring
the vestiges of the native past.
This printed issue of Western Water provides an overview of the
idea of a dual conveyance facility, including questions
surrounding its cost, operation and governance
This printed copy of Western Water examines the native salmon and
trout dilemma – the extent of the crisis, its potential impact on
water deliveries and the lengths to which combined efforts can
help restore threatened and endangered species.
This printed copy of Western Water examines the Delta through the
many ongoing activities focusing on it, most notably the Delta
Vision process. Many hours of testimony, research, legal
proceedings, public hearings and discussion have occurred and
will continue as the state seeks the ultimate solution to the
problems tied to the Delta.
This issue of Western Water explores the implications for the San
Joaquin River following the decision in the Natural Resources
Defense Council lawsuit against the Bureau of Reclamation and
Friant Water Users Authority that Friant Dam is required to
comply with a state law that requires enough water be released to
sustain downstream fish populations.
Fresh from the ocean, adult salmon struggle to swim hundreds of
miles upstream to spawn — and then die — in the same stream in
which they were born. For the salmon, the river-to-ocean,
ocean-to-river life cycle is nothing more than instinct. For
humans, it invites wonder. The cycle has prevailed for centuries,
yet as salmon populations have declined, the cycle has become a
source of conflict. Water users have seen their supplies reduced.
Fishermen have had their catch curtailed. Environmentalists have
pushed for more instream flows for fish.
