ITEM: INFORMATIONAL ITEMS/STAFF REPORTS
17. CARMEL
RIVER FISHERY REPORT
Meeting
Date: March 17, 2003 Budgeted: N/A
Program/Line
Item No.: Aquatic Staff
Staff Contact: Dave
Dettman/ Resources Fisheries, 2.4
Beverly Chaney Cost Estimate: N/A
General Counsel Approval: N/A
Committee Recommendation: N/A
CEQA Compliance:
N/A
AQUATIC HABITAT AND FLOW
CONDITIONS: During February 2003,
Carmel River streamflow conditions were good for fish rearing, but only fair
for adult fish migration. Mean daily
streamflow recorded at the District’s Carmel River at Sleepy Hollow Weir gaging
station averaged 73 cubic feet-per-second (cfs) and ranged from 61 – 99 cfs.
February
rainfall of only 1.46 inches as recorded by Cal-Am at San Clemente Dam, was far
below the long-term monthly average of 4.40 inches at this site. This follows a very dry January. Long-term forecasts for March show continued
below average precipitation.
Low river flows in February caused the lagoon’s water surface elevation (WSE) to fluctuate between 3 and 9 feet above mean-sea level as the sand berm across the mouth formed and breached. February water quality in the lagoon was good to excellent for steelhead health.
WSE at the Carmel
River Lagoon during February 2003. The
lagoon was reportedly manually breached several times during the month.
SAN CLEMENTE DAM FISH COUNTER: The fish counter was placed into service on November 1, 2002. Through the end of February 2003, 256 adult steelhead have passed over the counter, including 8 fish in November, 17 in December, 90 in January, and 141 in February.
2/28/2003 Nov 2002 8 Dec. 2002 17 TOTAL 256
Total Through
Month # of Adults
Jan. 2003 90
Feb. 2003 141
STEELHEAD REDD SURVEY: On February 28, 2003, District staff completed the first round of surveys for steelhead adults and redds (nests) from the Highway 1 Bridge to Los Padres Dam (approximately 24 river miles). Short sections of two Carmel River tributaries, San Clemente Creek and Pine Creek, were also surveyed. The number of redds and adult fish observed are shown below. Staff plans to start the second survey pass in late March.
|
Reach |
#
Redds |
Total # Adults |
Spawning Pairs |
Single Adults |
Kelts |
Carcasses |
|
San Clemente Cr.,
Dormandy’s – SCC gage |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Pine Creek, Confluence –
2/3 mile u/s |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Highway 1 – Stonepine
Br. |
27 |
8 |
1 |
6 |
0 |
0 |
|
Stonepine Bridge – SHSRF |
5 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
SHSRF – SCD |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
SCD – Pine Creek |
7 |
22 |
4 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
|
Pine Creek – Cachagua
Creek |
26 |
16 |
4 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
Cachagua Creek – Los Padres Dam |
9 |
6 |
1 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
|
Season
Totals |
74 |
53 |
10 |
24 |
4 |
5 |
STATUS OF SLEEPY HOLLOW STEELHEAD REARING FACILITY (Facility): No fish are currently being held at the Facility.
Sediment Mitigation Project: In August 2002, District staff completed repairs of the river pumps on the water intake gallery at the Sleepy Hollow Steelhead Rearing Facility (Facility). On October 23, 2002, District staff attended an interagency meeting at the Department of Water Resources, Division of Safety of Dams (DSOD) in Sacramento, where DSOD presented details of a fundamental change in California-American Water Company’s (Cal-Am’s) operation of San Clemente Dam. This change, which is being required as an interim measure to minimize risk of dam failure during a major earthquake, involves lowering the water surface elevation in San Clemente Reservoir to an elevation of 515 feet, beginning on May 15, 2003. This change in Cal-Am’s operation will result in significant bypass of fine-grained sediment into the river channel below the dam, especially during periods when flows range below the capacity of the outlet structure. As a consequence, District staff expects that the large quantities of fine-grained sediment, including silt and sand, will pass into the Facility’s intake structure. This is problematic because deposition of fine-grained sediment and passage of silt will harm fish in the Facility and may lead to rapid failure of the recently repaired pumps. Given this situation, District staff believes that retrofit of the intake structure will be needed to make the Facility operational next year and into the foreseeable future.
Time
is of the essence in this situation because the District must have the Facility
operational by early June 2003 to meet its obligations under the Allocation
Mitigation Program. District staff
contacted List Engineering Company (LEC) of Monterey to review this situation
and they proposed a design and build approach to retrofit the Facility to avoid
entrainment of sediment into the water intake system. LEC has assembled a
design team with LEC as the lead engineering firm and John F. Otto, Inc. of
Sacramento as the general engineering contractor.
At
their December 16, 2002 Board meeting, the Board approved spending up to
$125,000 to contract with John F. Otto, Inc. on the initial phase of the
retrofit project. In January 2003, staff received LEC’s Phase 1 report that
outlined eight retrofit options.
Following a project update presented by staff at their January 30, 2003
meeting, the Board requested additional information on less costly options to
deal with the sediment problem. In
addition, the Board requested an analysis on the feasibility of divesting the
District of the Facility and rescue activities.
At
their February 27, 2003 meeting, the Board considered funding the remainder of
the project and other options. Following
Staff’s recommendation, the Board voted to approve the funding for the Interim
Retrofit Project (IRP) which includes upgraded impellers on the existing pumps,
purchase of an additional backup pump and a mobile emergency pump, and
installation of a centrifugal separator to reduce the buildup of sediment in
the cooling tower and rearing channel.
Construction work on the project should begin in late April with
completion by mid-May 2003.
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