Forget turkey, we’re thankful about salmon. How California is helping salmon bounce back.

Restoring salmon in the Central Valley

Last week, the California Wildlife Conservation Board (WCB) approved seven projects that will restore critical habitat and remove fish passage barriers in the Central Valley.

Totaling over $70 million, these seven projects advance early implementation of the Healthy Rivers and Landscapes program, an unprecedented collaboration of local, state, and federal water partners to improve environmental flows and restore habitats along California’s key waterways. By reconnecting rivers to floodplains, modernizing water infrastructure, and restoring spawning and rearing habitat, these projects also directly address priorities identified in the state’s Salmon Strategy.

Here are some of the recently approved projects:

• Battle Creek Ranch, Tehama County: Secures 313 acres of high-value spawning and rearing habitat for endangered spring-run and winter-run Chinook salmon and steelhead, complementing ongoing restoration efforts and protecting critical tributary systems.
• Meridian Farms Fish Screen, Sutter County: Consolidates two unscreened diversions on the Sacramento River into a single screened diversion, reducing juvenile salmon mortality and supporting recovery of Central Valley spring-run and winter-run Chinook salmon.
• Robinson’s Riffle Feather River Restoration, Butte County: Reshapes roughly one mile of the Feather River and reconnects it to 51 acres of historic floodplain, creating high-quality spawning and rearing habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead while increasing overall habitat diversity.

Explore all the projects on WCB’s story maps page.

‘Salmon everywhere’ in the Klamath

A little more than a year after the historic removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists are seeing salmon reoccupying just about every corner of their historic habitat. This is a key milestone for the Governor’s Salmon Strategy.

“The speed at which salmon are repopulating every nook and cranny of suitable habitat upstream of the dams in the Klamath Basin is both remarkable and thrilling,” said Michael Harris, Environmental Program Manager of CDFW’s Klamath Watershed Program. “There are salmon everywhere on the landscape right now, and it’s invigorating our work.”

While adult returns of salmon are ongoing and final estimates won’t be available until January, initial reports indicate a stronger fall-run Chinook salmon return than last year with widespread dispersal of the fish. Recent signs of salmon recovery throughout the Klamath Basin include:

• The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Klamath Tribes report seeing widespread salmon spawning within the Oregon portion of the Klamath River, including within multiple tributaries upstream of Klamath Lake where salmon haven’t been seen in more than a century.
• Fish-counting stations have recorded 214 adult Chinook salmon in Jenny Creek and 260 adult Chinook salmon in Shovel Creek to date. CDFW field crews are surveying regularly for salmon nests and adult fish.

A primary goal of Klamath River dam removal was the reestablishment of viable, wild, self-sustaining populations of salmon and other anadromous fish species for conservation, for their ecological benefits, and to enhance tribal, commercial and recreational fisheries.

To that end, CDFW has invested approximately $24 million to support fish habitat restoration projects within the Klamath Basin.